YO! Baltimore to Host Lights on After School Activities

Baltimore - On October 9, 2003, the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s Youth Opportunity initiative (YO! Baltimore) will join the Afterschool Alliance in promoting the 4th annual Lights on After School. This initiative - including 5,000 events being held across the nation - recognizes the critical importance of quality after-school programs in the lives of children, their families and their communities. According to national statistics, more than 28 million parents of school-age children work outside the home, and these "latchkey" youth are more likely to be involved in risky behavior if they are left unsupervised after school.

Focusing on the theme, Explore, Discover, Express, YO! Baltimore is highlighting the following after-school activities on October 9:

Westside YO! Community Center, 1510 W. Lafayette Avenue/Gilmor Street entrance, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
High school students from FUTURES Plus Southwestern and Douglass invited. Afterschool program opportunities include: EXPLORE: homework assistance and tutorial services; DISCOVER: use of the computer technology labs; and EXPRESS: health and fitness center activities, and West Side Speak Easy youth recreation.

YO! at Studio 760, 788 Washington Boulevard, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
EXPLORE! DISCOVER! EXPRESS! Community artists and facilitators and YO! youth practitioners will lead the following creative arts
seminars: hip hop/spoken word, creative drama, percussion, yoga, Afro-Cuban dance, and visual arts.

East Side HEBCAC YO! Community Center, 1212 N. Wolfe Street, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Activities will include a poetry club meeting with Vincent Brandon and tutoring with YWCA volunteers from Morgan State University.

YO! at The Chance, 301 N. Front Street, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Activities will include: community service projects; a Sister Circle (to encourage self-awareness for young women); Brother to Brother (to encourage maturity in manhood); mini-workshops on attitude, skills, interview attire and staying in school; and YOUTH ZONE (game time
and computer technology lab access).

YO! at McKim, 7 S. High Street, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
The evening will feature refreshments, PlayStation 2 competitions (with prizes), Phaze 10 card games (with prizes), music and dance, discussions of current events, and workshops on videography, filmmaking and camera skills.

An initiative of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board Youth Council, Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and multiple workforce partners, YO! Baltimore increases the long-term employability of Empowerment Zone youth and young adults by offering a broad array of education, work-readiness and personal development resources and activities. Since YO! Baltimore began three years ago, more than 3,300 Empowerment Zone residents, ages 16 to 21, have become YO! members. For additional information about YO! Baltimore and its center locations, call 410-396-6722 or visit www.yobaltimore.org.

The Washington, D.C.-based Afterschool Alliance is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of after-school programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. More information on the Alliance and Lights On Afterschool! is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.