Our Hidden Education
By: Cecilia Foxworthy
Tags: Education, Startup, Edtech

Some people and organizations are already doing this.

They’re after school and summer programs. Programs in leadership, performing arts, technology, social justice, mentorship, and sports are instrumental in creating fulfilled and engaged young people.

Out-of-school programs allow young people to explore their interests, build skills, and expand their networks outside of the classroom. Important for several reasons:

It is essential that young people, and particularly those getting ready for adulthood, explore their interests. As Annie Murphy Paul (@anniemurphypaul) has found, “interest has the power to transform struggling performers, and to lift high achievers to a new plane”. Interest is in fact a “more powerful predictor of future choices than prior achievements or demographic variables.” Out-of-school programs tend to inspire what Alex Hernandez (@thinkschools) and Jeff Wetzler (@jeffwetzler) call “signature experiences”. These are those transformative learning moments of lasting impact. While funding for arts in the formal system is continuously decreasing, out-of-school programs are picking up the slack. At the same time, while everyone agrees on the importance of STEM and technology education in the classroom, fewer than 10% of NYC public schools offer computer science education. Again, out-of-school programs are stepping in. Connection with different kinds of out-of-school programs expands a young person’s adult and peer network exponentially. And this matters, because as Julia Freeland (@juliaffreeland) points out, “low-income students have measurably smaller networks than their more affluent peers…”. This has implications for both college access and employment opportunities.

And if you’re not convinced yet, we can always fall back on the trusty graduation rates out-of-school programs are helping to achieve. For example, participants of the community-based organization Brotherhood SisterSol (@BroSis512) in Harlem graduate high school at rates of 94% when the neighborhood average is just 42%.

The leadership and social justice organization Global Kids (@globalkids) is not only creating more informed young citizens, but is also helping 97% of their participants graduate from high school, and 91% to attend college.

Yet another example, Scripted (@ScriptEdOrg), a coding program for teens, has reported that 100% of their participants plan to attend college upon graduation from high school.

The evidence is clear: after school and summer programs are no longer in the ‘enrichment’ category. They are instrumental to the success of young people.

Afterschool and summer programs like the ones mentioned above and the thousands more like them across the nation, are making concrete, impressive gains with our young people. I for one am relieved to learn this because it means we do not have to rely on just one institution anymore.

We can elevate the status of afterschool and summer programs to the level they deserve. Educating young people right alongside the formal education system. It’s time we champion them as partners in our young people’s education and give them the attention they deserve.

Please join me in doing so.

If you are a teen attending a program or are a parent of a teen attending a program, write them a note to thank them for their work. Even better, if you’ve got the means, donate to their program so they can expand.

I know it’s cliché, but it really does take a village to raise a child. We already have that village in place, we just need to harness it better.