LEAP’s National Lights On Afterschool Youth Festival

Brooklyn, NY– On Thursday, October 20th, 3-5pm, LEAP, a leading NYC arts education nonprofit, will celebrate its National Lights On Afterschool Youth Festival at Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Herbert Von King Park.

The festival theme, “We Stand, Create, & Play Together,” will shine a light on the amazing afterschool programs that keep our young people safe, engaged and supported during afterschool hours, and was created by LEAP’s Isaac Clason elementary school students. Their mural, pictured left, won the Afterschool Alliance National Lights On Afterschool poster contest!

Performances will celebrate youth voice, leadership, and resilience, while raising awareness about the critical issue of increasing student engagement through the power of the arts as the city battles low student enrollment numbers resulting in devastating budget cuts to the arts.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

●  Youth Performances: Students from five Brooklyn and one Bronx school will showcase Spoken Word, Music, Dance, STEP, and Band

●  Winning Mural On Display: Our winning National Lights On Afterschool mural will be on display

●  Special Guests: National Afterschool Alliance representatives and elected officials

●  LEAP Artists LIVE!: Our award-winning national touring theater troupe, LEAP Artists LIVE! will

be performing Kathy D. Harrison’s Liberty & Justice, a riveting musical production that tells the story of 20th Century women of color who immigrated to NYC in search of better opportunities. These unsung heroes who made up much of the city’s domestic labor force, would become the backbone of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

High-quality afterschool programs are particularly important for underserved youth who may not have access to the same resources and opportunities as their peers. LEAP programs level the playing field by engaging the arts to provide young people with the skills and experiences they need to succeed in school and in life. “My favorite aspect of LEAP is the effect they have on students — children were waiting and anticipating their arrival everyday. LEAP is all in when it comes to social emotional learning and balancing just the needs of students through arts. That’s one of the many things I literally enjoy connecting with LEAP on. Arts is a very important part of our work and LEAP plays a big role in getting that purpose on point,” said Janet Huger-Johnson, principal of East New York Elementary School of Excellence.

Principal Arin M. Rusch added, “The M.S.447 Math and Science Exploratory School has been a proud LEAP partner since 2017. As New York City public schools grapple with one of the most racial and socio-economically segregated school systems in the country, we are thankful to partner with an arts education organization that aligns with our school mission by utilizing an inquiry-based learning approach to centering equity, access, and justice, through arts-centered programming.”

Join LEAP in celebrating youth and raising awareness on the importance of investing in afterschool programs as a way to support working families and ensure that all young people have access to high-quality afterschool programming.

Launched in October 2000, Lights On Afterschool is the only nationwide event celebrating afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. The effort, organized by the Afterschool Alliance, has become a hallmark of the afterschool movement and generates media coverage across the country each year.

LEAP provides equity and access to the arts for NYC children underserved in the arts. LEAP started in 1977 in just four schools and now provides high quality arts programs every year to nearly 20,000 NYC students across 140 schools in all five boroughs.

For more information please contact Monique Jarvis, Director of Communications and Corporate Partnerships at LEAP or text/call (212) 203-1443. Instagram: @leapnyc