Message From Co-Chairs

Children and youth across the Commonwealth need our help and support to become caring and productive members of our society. As Co-Chairs of this Special Commission, we welcome your input as we work together with our 36 members to craft recommendations on how best to support the healthy development of children and youth when they are in and out of school. In addition to the Commission meetings about this critical issue, we intend to hold at least nine public hearings across the Commonwealth. We are aware that not everyone will be able to attend and and invite you to use this blog to communicate with us about your issues and concerns. We look forward to your comments.

Posting Rules and Etiquette

We welcome and value your feedback and ask that you do the following in order to post your comments to this blog. 1. To provide your first and last name and the town or city in which you live to help us track the feedback statewide. 2. To label your comments so we can direct your feedback to the right Commission Work Group. The Commission's three Work Groups are: 1) Information and Access; 2) Quality, Workforce and Professional Development and 3) Sustainability. If your comments cut across all three Work Groups, please label that as "Crosscutting Issue". 3. To add constructive and professional comments - rude or profane comments will be deleted. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Dartmouth Public Hearing a Success!



Co-Chairs Senator Thomas McGee and Representative Marie St. Fleur are joined by Representatives Alice Wolf and Patricia Haddad and Commission Member Gwynn Hughes at UMass Dartmouth for a hearing on how children and youth spend their time when not in school on Thursday, July 19th.

The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time's sixth public hearing was a great success. Held in at UMASS-Dartmouth on Thursday, July 19th, over 40 people attended representing youth, parents, community-based providers, public education, and public safety perspectives on this critical issue to children, youth and families.

Co-Chairs Senator Thomas McGee and Representative Marie St.Fleur convened the hearing and were joined by Representative Alice Wolf, a member of the Commission and Representative Patricia Haddad, the House Chair on Education. Additional Commission members in attendance were: Gwynn Hughes of MAP, Joseph Gillis Jr. of the MA Association of School Committees, Fran Barrett representing Commissioner Ann Reale of EEC, Associate Commissioner Sally Fogerty of DPH, Deborah Kneeland of MADCA, Ben Lummis of Mass2020, Michael Cahill of the YMCA's of MA, and Dr. Deborah Dancy of the MA Association of Elementary School Principals.

Prior to the public hearing, members of the Special Commission toured the afterschool program held at the Sgt. William H. Carney Memorial Academy in New Bedford. The Academy serves 150 children in afterschool programs during 5 weeks during the summer months. Members of the Special Commission viewed an arts-based afterschool program taught by Brick by Brick - one of the many community-based partners that NorthStar Learning Centers uses with funding from the 21st Century federal grant program. A special thanks to Bob French, the Director of Policy and Program Development of NorthStar Learning Centers, Asst. Superintendent Karen Treadup, and Patty McGrath, Executive Director of Brockton's Get on Base for arranging the site visit for Special Commission members.

The public hearing was covered by the New Bedford Times and the Fall River Herald News. The hearing was also taped by DCTV-18, New Bedford's Community Access Channel.

The remaining four public hearings for the Special Commission will be held in the fall on September 11, 13, 20 and 25 at locations to be announced.
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