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Mayor Coleman Visits No School Day Program at Hazel Park Recreation Center in Recognition of 2007 Lights On Afterschool Week

(Saint Paul) – Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman celebrated National Lights On Afterschool week today with a visit to Second Shift No School Day activities at the Hazel Park Recreation Center. Mayor Coleman met with children, staff and parents participating in No School Day activities. The Mayor’s visit coincides with 7,500 Lights On Afterschool events across the nation that emphasize the importance of keeping the lights on and the doors open for afterschool programs.

“Lights On Afterschool is a powerful reminder that afterschool and out-of-school programs are critical to the success of our children, which is why we’ve expanded our Second Shift activities during this week’s Statewide Teachers Conference,” said Mayor Coleman. “Our No School Day initiative has been a tremendous success and we are extremely pleased to have the ability to bring this programming to Hazel Park and to children across the city. Providing accessible, affordable and academically rich opportunities to our children during their out of school time is our goal with the Second Shift Initiative, and we know our No School Days are going to help put Saint Paul kids on the path to success.”

The Second Shift No School Day program gives children the opportunity to participate in quality, structured activities during days that the Saint Paul Public School district has no school – such as the State Teachers Conference, Winter Break and Spring Break. The No School Day program allows working parents to send their children to a safe and engaging environment where they might have otherwise had to take off work or leave their children at home and unsupervised.

Mayor Coleman’s Second Shift No School Day program began as a pilot program on the East Side in the fall of 2006. Over 300 children from, Ames Elementary School and Eastern Heights Elementary School and Nokomis Montessori Magnet School participated in all-day programming at Hazel Park Recreation Center. During spring break last year, more than 1,800 children took part in expanded No School Day activities. Due to these successes Mayor Coleman expanded the No School Day program citywide this fall.

About Lights On Afterschool
Lights On Afterschool is a nationwide event to recognize the critical importance of quality afterschool programs in the lives of children, their families and communities. It is a project of the Afterschool Alliance – a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensuring that all children have access to quality afterschool programs. More information on the Alliance and Lights On Afterschool is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.

A camp for exposure:
Camp Sunrise, a free camp along the St. Croix River, offers many teens from St. Paul and Minneapolis their first experience 'roughing it' and their first interactions with people of cultures different from their own.
Pioneer Press, August 19, 2007
http://www.twincities.com/ci_6656446?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1

The hot new trend: Meeting the neighbors
Connecting communities becomes a booming business
St. Paul Pioneer Press, August 21, 2006
"Community used to just happen. Now we have to go out and build it," said Lofquist, director of Opportunity Neighborhood Development Corp.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/15321563.htm

McKnight names director of Children and Families program:
http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3429&catID=2440&typeID=2