{"id":4398,"date":"2013-10-30T07:44:57","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T07:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floc.org\/?p=4398"},"modified":"2018-10-06T07:54:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-06T07:54:48","slug":"david-i-am-a-future-leader-for-our-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/david-i-am-a-future-leader-for-our-city\/","title":{"rendered":"David: \u2018I Am a Future Leader for Our City\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4398 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-large'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/david-i-am-a-future-leader-for-our-city\/img_00322-edited\/'><img width=\"940\" height=\"1022\" src=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-edited-942x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-edited-942x1024.jpg 942w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-edited-276x300.jpg 276w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-edited-768x835.jpg 768w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-edited.jpg 1555w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4399'>\n\t\t\t\tDavid speaks about his experiences in afterschool programs during the Lights On Afterschool event.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>On Thursday, October 17<sup>th<\/sup>, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dc-aya.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DC Alliance of Youth Advocates<\/a>\u00a0(DCAYA) and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.afterschoolalliance.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Afterschool Alliance<\/a>\u00a0hosted the 12<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0annual\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.afterschoolalliance.org\/loa.cfm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Lights On Afterschool<\/i><\/a>, an event celebrated nationwide to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for America\u2019s children. David, a 12th-grade Scholar, was asked to deliver remarks on his experiences in afterschool programs. He shared the stage with community leaders like Eton Thomas,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us\/council\/jim-graham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Councilmember Jim Graham<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dmhhs.dc.gov\/biography\/beatriz-otero\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deputy Mayor Beatriz \u201cBB\u201d Otero<\/a>. David even got to help Mayor Vincent Gray proclaim DC Afterschool Day.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-4398 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-large'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/david-i-am-a-future-leader-for-our-city\/img_00811\/'><img width=\"940\" height=\"940\" src=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00811-1024x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-4401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00811-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00811-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00811-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00811-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-4401'>\n\t\t\t\tDavid shares the stage with Mayor Vincent Gray and Councilmember Jim Graham.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>All of us at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/floc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FLOC<\/a>\u00a0are incredibly proud of David, and we are excited to be able to share his remarks with you here. We\u2019d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at DCAYA and the Afterschool Alliance for thinking of FLOC and its students when planning this event.<\/p>\n<p><b>Remarks Given at the DCAYA\u00a0<i>Lights On Afterschool\u00a0<\/i>Event<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hello, my name is David.\u00a0 I am 16 years old, and I am a senior at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School.\u00a0 Statistics say I\u2019m 34 times more likely to be incarcerated in my lifetime than my white counterparts, and if that were to happen to me, it would happen afterschool.<\/p>\n<p>But it hasn\u2019t. \u00a0I am an honor roll student; I\u2019m a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.possefoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">POSSE<\/a>\u00a0semifinalist; I\u2019m already contributing to organizations that helped me; and I am a future leader for our city.<\/p>\n<p>I am fortunate to have attended good schools and received excellent support in the classroom, but it\u2019s thanks to the diverse afterschool programs I\u2019ve participated in that I have the skills, the drive, and the confidence to be a leader.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s taken a lot of time to get here.\u00a0 I moved to DC from the Dominican Republic when I was 10 years old.\u00a0 Then, as now, my mom worked incredibly hard to support us.<\/p>\n<p>Her job required her to be out the door by 4:30 each morning and we normally did not see her until 8 or 9 each night.\u00a0 In the Dominican Republic, my mom was a teacher and knew the importance of educational opportunities. She knew that in order for us to succeed, we needed support outside of the school day.<\/p>\n<p>But according to a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicagenda.org\/press-releases\/survey-sports-arts-clubs-volunteering-out-school-activities-play-crucial-positive-role-kids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2004 Public Agenda survey<\/a>, low-income and minority parents are much more likely than higher-income and white parents to have trouble finding quality, affordable afterschool programs.<\/p>\n<p>We were lucky. My mom found programs that were so much more than just a safe place after school.\u00a0 In places like For Love of Children, I was able to enroll in programs that engaged me based on my interests, programs that didn\u2019t just help me with my homework.<\/p>\n<p>FLOC gave me new opportunities and took me to new places. From college tours to trips to our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flocoutdoors.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Outdoor Education Center<\/a>\u00a0in West Virginia, I\u2019ve been around. Thanks to afterschool programs, I can say that I\u2019ve had a staring competition with a bear, and I won.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s probably something that wouldn\u2019t happen on Pennsylvania Avenue.<\/p>\n<p>The network of people who are supporting me has grown to include community leaders, caring adult mentors, and\u00a0talented students from other parts of the city.\u00a0 These people are offering so much more than a refuge from the streets. They are the link between my classroom achievements, my development as a young adult, and fulfilling the goals my mother had when she brought us to the United States.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this school year, I will be part of the ninth consecutive class where 100% of FLOC students are graduating high school on time and on track to attend a postsecondary institution.\u00a0 I will join my sisters, and become part of the nearly 80 students who are still connected to FLOC and receiving continued support on their path toward a degree.\u00a0 Yesterday, I took the SAT and then spent the afternoon working with my FLOC postsecondary coach finishing up my common app.<\/p>\n<p>When I started in afterschool programs, I thought I was just playing around with my friends.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize that the games we played were actually building the softer skills that I\u2019ll need to be successful in college and in life.\u00a0 I was becoming an academically proficient, culturally literate, intellectually reflective, life-long learner.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also developed the hard skills that guarantee I can participate in the 21<sup>st<\/sup>\u00a0century job market.\u00a0 I\u2019ve built a robot that can play basketball and block more shots than Alonzo Mourning.<\/p>\n<p>To get students excited about afterschool programs, you need to do more than just give them a space to be; you need to ignite their passion for learning. I encourage the policy makers and community leaders here today to be innovative, to engage the young people who haven\u2019t made the connection to an effective afterschool program, and to invest in those programs that have demonstrated success.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll tell you what I told the Deputy Mayor: students don\u2019t become disconnected because they are lazy. We are interested in all sorts of things, and we each have unique talents.\u00a0 We need programs that connect us to other people who have the same interests, that show us how to develop these interests into tangible skills; skills that mean better performance in school, better opportunities in college, and higher paying jobs.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, I\u2019d like to tell you about one of my solutions.\u00a0 FLOC connected me to a program called\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/learn-serve.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn Serve International<\/a>\u00a0where I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to engage in programming that teaches high school juniors and seniors to develop innovative solutions to community challenges.\u00a0 My project is focused on afterschool programming: giving elementary and middle school students access to fully stocked, high-tech laboratories where college students will guide them through scientific experiments, robot-building, and computer programming. We all know what the future is going to look like, so why aren\u2019t we providing young students in our community the skills necessary to thrive there? We are still looking for seed funding. If you\u2019re interested, please come talk to me after this is over.<\/p>\n<p>Afterschool programs have been critical in my development and success. Education, according to Allan Bloom, is the movement from darkness to light. Afterschool programs, like the ones I\u2019ve participated in, like the ones that are still just ideas in your head, are how we turn on the light.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Cody Laminack\u00a0is the NTP Program Manager at FLOC).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, October 17th, the\u00a0DC Alliance of Youth Advocates\u00a0(DCAYA) and the\u00a0Afterschool Alliance\u00a0hosted the 12th\u00a0annual\u00a0Lights On Afterschool, an event celebrated nationwide to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for America\u2019s children. David, a 12th-grade Scholar, was asked to deliver remarks on his experiences in afterschool programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,49,57],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>David: \u2018I Am a Future Leader for Our City\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"David: \u2018I Am a Future Leader for Our City\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Thursday, October 17th, the\u00a0DC Alliance of Youth Advocates\u00a0(DCAYA) and the\u00a0Afterschool Alliance\u00a0hosted the 12th\u00a0annual\u00a0Lights On Afterschool, an event celebrated nationwide to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for America\u2019s children. David, a 12th-grade Scholar, was asked to deliver remarks on his experiences in afterschool programs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/david-i-am-a-future-leader-for-our-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FLOC-For the Love of Children\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-30T07:44:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-06T07:54:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_00322-editedfi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"388\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"256\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"StaffFloc\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4402,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4398\/revisions\/4402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floc.org\/flocold2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<br />
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