Lights On!
Lights On! is a national celebration to call attention to the importance of after school programs for America's children, families and communities. Lights On After School! is a project of the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable after school programs by 2010. October 16th marked the 8th annual Lights On Afterschool! celebration, organized nationally by the Afterschool Alliance with support from the J.C. Penney Afterschool fund.
The 8th annual Lights On! event was a huge success as usual! With 61 students from 31 schools creating their own sidewalk art, it made City Hall the place to be on October 16th. The event brought attention to afterschool programming and informed elected officials of the need for children to have a place to go after school. The participating elected officials included Kathleen Hicks - Mayor Pro Tem; State Representatives Kelly Hancock, Dan Barrett, and Marc Veasey; Josie Martinez – Representative from Lon Burnam’s office; Patricia Bostic – Representative from Congressman Michael Burgess’ office; Krystal James, a representative from Roy Brook’s office – Tarrant County Commissioner; and Frank Moss – City Councilman. Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of Fine Arts for Fort Worth ISD and Board of Education member Carlos Vasquez were also there to support the event.
Students drew pictures of what after school programming meant to them. The pictures were judged and students were selected to draw their artwork outside of City Hall. When the students arrived, they were given sidewalk chalk to begin their artwork. Como Elementary School brought their choir and sang a beautiful rendition of “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston. We also had African drumming from the talented after school group at Westcreek Elementary. After the wonderful entertainment, Kathleen Kicks presented the Proclamation to Miguel Garcia, director of Fort Worth After School.
This was a very special event, and we would like to thank Carol Everhart, the Community Relations Liaison with the City of Fort Worth, School Specialty, Binney-Smith Crayola, the City of Fort Worth Community Relations Department, Parks and Community Services Department, Tarrant County Precinct 1, and Larry’s Carpet for their support. We couldn’t have done this without them!