A proclamation celebrating Denver afterschool programs and the 15th Annual National Lights on Afterschool Day.
We do have two proclamations this evening, and we'll start with the first one. Proclamation 866. Councilman Lopez, will you please read proclamation 866 will do. Mr. President. Proclamation number 866 series of 2014, celebrating Denver after school programs and the 15th Annual National Lights on after school day. Whereas the Denver City Council is is committed to quality afterschool programs and the opportunities they provide children and youth engaging and challenging them through learning experiences that help develop their social, emotional, physical and academic skills . In addition to supporting working families by ensuring their children are safe and productive after the regular school day ends. And. Whereas, quality afterschool programs provide students with activities such as academic support, music, arts, sports, leadership, development and conflict resolution, and other 21st century skills, and inspire. Increase confidence, improve social skills and connections to the future, education and career opportunities. And. WHEREAS, Quality afterschool programs have a proven track record of increasing school attendance, improving student engagement and achievement are resulting in higher proficiency in academic subjects and fewer behavioral issues. And students who are parties who participate are less likely to repeat a grade, be placed in remedial courses or to drop out, but more likely to perform at a grade level and to be prepared for their future. And. Whereas, the city and county of Denver, the Denver Afterschool Alliance, Denver Public Schools and many of Denver's funding and community based organizations work together to develop a sustainable citywide afterschool system to increase access to and participation in quality afterschool programs for all of Denver's. Youth. In order to keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and prepare them for the future. And. Whereas, Denver is home to over 93,000 school age youth, producing a significant need for afterschool programs to support their academic, social and physical development. And we're as lights on afterschool a national celebration of afterschool programs on October 23rd, 2014 highlights the critical importance of quality afterschool programs in the lives of children, their families and their communities. And. Whereas, the Denver City Council pledges to support afterschool programs so that Denver's children and families benefit from quality afterschool programs that help them close the achievement gap and prepare young people to come pee and to succeed. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Council, the city and county of Denver, Section one at the Denver City Council recognizes the outstanding leadership of the Denver Afterschool Alliance and the quality and the Denver Quality Afterschool connection for their innovative afterschool programs for Denver children and recognizes the 15th Annual National Lights on Afterschool Day. Thursday, October 23rd, 2014. Section two that the Clerk of the of the city and county of Denver shall test and affix the seal of the city and county Denver to this proclamation. And. Transmit it to the Office of Education and Children. Thank you, Councilman Lopez. Your motion to adopt. I move that proclamation number 866 series of 2014 be adopted. It has been moved and second it comments from members of council councilman lopez. Thank you, Mr. President. It is a delight to be able to read this proclamation, but to do it in front of these beautiful kids who are sitting in our council chambers. And if you take notice. They're all sitting up front. Not one space is empty. And the front row and any of these are us. And they come from all over Denver for Emanuel High from West High School, which is my personal favorite. From South, even though she's wearing a cowboy orange from D.C., she's from Greenlee. Where were you from? I forgot. And this is Fairmont. Right. So they are kids from all over the place. And these after school programs are essential. They're essential because nowadays families work and they're working one or two jobs and they're switching off back and forth. And they're essential also because these kids just love homework and they love school and they just cannot get enough of it. And they even told me, perhaps we should pass an ordinance that creates more homework. Right. Didn't you guys told me that? Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Well. It might have been the opposite. It might have been the opposite. It might have been the opposite where I was being lobbied really hard since they were here. So we know that we won't pass that ordinance, but it is amazing. It's a great program. The city has been a member of the Denver Afterschool Alliance for a long time, already under the leadership of MAXINE Quintana, who's in the Mayor's Office of Education and Children and DPS. And I'll have John Albright come up here, along with Enrique Garcia, who's a a young, young man and a participant in the Boys and Girls Club activities. So without further ado, I'd like to have them come up afterwards, um, to, to get this proclamation after we do the vote. So thank you, Councilman Lopez. Councilman Brooks. Thank you, Mr. President. And and thanks to Councilman Lopez for bringing this forward. You know, I say this time and time again, but the most important work that we can do in this city is with these with these young folks. And you're looking at our future city right now. And it is a distinct pleasure and honor to have you guys here in this building. I know you're bored out of your minds, but we need we, as decision makers and policymakers, need to continually be reminded of of what's the most important asset in our city. And that's you guys. And yeah, you know, I'm so supportive of this and I hope that we can continue to work with DPS and work with other stakeholders in other sectors, business sector, to to figure out how we can continue to make our afterschool programs a little bit more robust and interesting and diverse for all of the different needs that we have in the community. We know that we're cutting many different programs within our educational system, especially the arts. And we know that the arts is what engages our young people. Right, and shows them like, wow, this is this is what I was created for. I was born to do this. And all of a sudden they start seeing their grades go up because they're engaged and they're ready to go and they have a vision for life. And so I hope that we can continue to invest in that, and I hope that we can continue to support programs like that. And I hope you guys are reading your shirt and you're reading it deeply because each of you matter and man, you're beautiful, godly, good looking kids. But we appreciate you. We support you. Thank you. Councilmember Councilwoman Sheppard. Thank you. I remember fondly when I was a little girl that I participated in Girls Club programing, and it was really I just remember it being really fun and really cool and I really looked forward to it and I looked forward to participating. So I really support the programing. And then later, as an adult, when my son was born, I did a lot of volunteering in the after school program at Lake IB. They have an after school gardening program and we worked to help get vegetable and flower beds built there so that the kids could participate and learn how to grow some of their own food, which they later used to sell in a farmer's market program at the school. And like got to learn how to start a business and learn some entrepreneurial skills about marketing and interacting with customers and customer service. And I think that that the skills that children can be exposed to and learn in these afterschool programs really go, you know, above and beyond what might be taught in the curriculum at school. And I sort of want to echo what Councilman Brooks was saying, is that with all the cuts to our education systems, so much of the the core curriculum is really being narrowed into very specific bands of learning. And through the after school programs, I think you can really get exposed to, you know, a whole range of things that you might not have the opportunity to learn about. During your regular school days. So I'm a huge fan and very supportive of the programing and of this proclamation. Thank you so much, Councilman Lopez, for bringing it forward. Then Councilwoman Schaeffer. Councilman Lopez, you have another comment? You know. I forgot to mention something and the reason why and I further mention the reason why there was sit in the front and there was a particular reason why they did. And I think we had a little discussion earlier, and they they realize that there's so many people around this world, so many kids their age in this world that would do anything at risk their lives to do anything just so that they can come have an opportunity to learn and to be at their same schools. And I don't think they'd be sitting in the back now, would we? It'd be sitting up in front. And there are so many people who fought throughout our history so that they could sit in the front and not the back. And I, I think I heard them say something about I mean, I asked them where they were going to sit when they were going to go to college. And I forgot, what are you guys going to sit in the front? Were they not going to sit by? And when they go back to Greenly, where are they going to go in the front? So I wanted to provide some context. I'm just blown away by these kids. And you're right, Councilman, we are going to have a bright future with these children. So thank you. Thank you. Councilman Lopez, do we have any other comments from members of council seen on Madam Secretary, roll call. LOPEZ Hi. Montero. NEVITT Hi, Rob. Shepherd Hi. SUSSMAN Hi. BROOKS Hi. Brown. I thought I can eat. Lemon Ortega. Mr. President. Hi. Councilman Ortega. Madam Secretary, please close the voting and now the results. 3939. 866 has been adopted. Councilman Lopez, is there someone you like to come to the podium to receive the proclamation? Yeah. Two amazing individuals I like that have come up. One is John Albright, who was co-chair of the Denver After-School Alliance and from DPS school district number one. And then also Enrique Garcia, who a participant in the Boys and Girls Club activities. And Cesar headed to what's cool. USC, right? Yeah, USC. All right. Good. Thank you, Councilman Lopez. Thank you. City council. And want to express just a few words of appreciation for on behalf of the school district and also the Denver Afterschool Alliance board for the city council, the mayor, Mayor Hancock support and the support of Denver residents for the work we're doing across the city to improve the quality and access to very high quality afterschool programs for all of Denver's youth. So, Councilman Lopez, you know, piggyback a little bit on what you said they were telling me earlier. They're coming to the school board Thursday night and they're advocating for a policy for more homework for for at the board level. So maybe we'll be hearing more about that. I think everybody's really excited. So a couple of words about the Denver Afterschool Alliance. It's a collaborative of stakeholders, including the city and county of Denver, Denver Public Schools, many of Denver's community based funding groups, as well as afterschool providers. And the work we're doing is focused around a vision that every child in Denver who needs afterschool programs has access to them so that we create a city where kids are safe, they're inspired to learn, they're prepared for success now and in the future. What we do in the Denver After School Alliance is we serve as an intermediary. What that means is we're a group that provides insight and technical assistance, and we are driving improvements across the after school space that are focused around data driven decision making, quality improvements, and the use of tools that allow us to chart access to high quality programs across the city and improve outcomes for kids. So that's really what our work is about. Don't to just say it's an honor to receive the proclamation. As the co-chair of the Denver Afterschool Alliance Board before you, you have a packet of material that's about the work we're doing. You have information in there that you may share with your constituents about how to find access to afterschool programs. In the city and county of Denver, we have an online locator system that can be found conveniently on the city's website at WW dot Denver Gov Dawg Slash Denver Afterschool Alliance. So again, thank you very much for the recognition of National Light's on after school day. We're proud that Denver is one of 7500 communities across the country celebrating this. And I would like to introduce someone who has been attending the Boys and Girls Clubs here in Denver for a long time now and wants to tell you a little bit about his experience. This is Denver Center for International Studies senior Enrique Garcia. Hello. I am Enrique Garcia. I am a senior at the Denver Center for International Studies, and I've been a member of the Boys and Girls Club for about six years now. The Boys and Girls Club is the Boys and Girls Club is a place where I go to, where I go after school and in the summer to participate in many programs. Without the club, I wouldn't be the person I am today. The club helped shape me. The club gave me social skills, confidence, leadership and happiness that I didn't know I had with all the opportunities that arose from becoming a member of the Boys and Girls Club. I attend the club on a regular basis 3 to 4 times a week because it gives me a chance to relax, hang out with friends, play basketball. Stay on top of all my schoolwork. And it's also a safe place to call home. The first word that comes to mind when the Boys and Girls Club is brought up is family. That's what the Boys and Girls Club means to me. It means coming together as a community, disregarding race, age, gender, and any differences that make us human. With the Boys and Girls Club, we come together as a whole to better ourselves and our community so that we are able to get something out of life. The second word that comes to mind is future. And that's also what the club means to me. It means preparing yourself for the future in the real world so you don't have to struggle throughout life, all with the helping hand to guide you there, of course. I started at the Boys and Girls Club looking for a signature from Marcus can be former Nuggets player. I did not expect to walk out with a great future ahead of me. I participated, accomplished and done so many things with the club, from sports to the team leadership program to community service to homework help to to being a role model to the younger members. I've done it, and I'm glad to say that it is only a little part of what I've done. Without the club, I. Without the club, I don't know where I would be. And probably I'll run in the streets or at home sleeping, probably doing something that I shouldn't be doing. So I have to thank the Boys and Girls Club and the director, Julio, for that, for being there, taking me in and helping me realize what I want out of life. Quality afterschool programs really do make a difference and are important for kids and teens like me. If you don't believe me, look at Smokey Robinson, Denzel Washington, or even Shaq, all alumni of the Boys and Girls Club. I would like to close this off by saying A great future starts off with the positive attitude to stay positive and productive, and you too shall have a great future ahead of you. Thank you for listening and have a good evening. Great job. Thank you both. And thank you. Councilman Lopez, for bringing that forward. We are moving on to Proclamation 917 and we will have Councilwoman Sheperd, will you please read a proclamation 917.