Members of the Out-of-School Time (OST) Collaborative prepare for the roll-out of the OST Action Blueprint for Spartanburg County as part of the County’s first “Lights on Afterschool” event.
In a first-of-its-kind event, Spartanburg community members celebrated an often-overlooked yet vital time of life for a young person: the 5000 + hours they spend outside classrooms. The celebration drew attention to county-wide efforts to make those hours “count,” focusing on the impact of the programs currently bringing high quality out-of-school time programs to youth in grades 6-12.
Lights-On Afterschool Spartanburg was held October 24, 2019 at the CC Woodson Community Center. In attendance were youth service providers and community members interested in learning more about efforts underway to close persistent opportunity gaps by improving, expanding, and sustaining high-quality afterschool and summer programs for middle and high school age youth. The work is being done by the Out of School Time (OST) Collaborative, led by Savannah Ray and Meghan Smith through the Spartanburg Academic Movement.
The OST Collaborative builds upon the work that began with CONNECT, the Adolescent Health Initiative of the Mary Black Foundation, and works to build collaborative action toward collective impact across program providers across Spartanburg County. Following a committed effort to honor a “nothing for us, without us” youth engagement model, the OST Collaborative kicked of the announcement of its Spartanburg County action blueprint in conjunction with the national Lights On Afterschool Campaign. The plan builds upon what youth made clear: “We are asking for support, protection, opportunities, fairness, respect, acceptance and equality. We want youth development opportunities.”
Savion Madison (left) brought the group to a standing ovation as he shared the impact of the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) program
Impact stories shared by My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) participant Savion Madison brought the crowd gathered to a standing ovation, building energy for expanding efforts to reach all Spartanburg County Youth.
Savannah Ray shared the particular focus being given to youth living in poverty, whose participation in out-of-school time programs had been limited. “After surveying our largest program providers, we found that only 14% of this target population were participating in the activities that are helping to build skills needed for success in life. The goal of the OST Collaborative is to increase that to at least 28% by 2024,” she explained.
Meghan Smith (left) and Savannah Ray (right) lead the OST Collaborative as part of their work with the Spartanburg Academic Movement
The OST effort has recently earned grants from the Mary Black Foundation and America's Promise Alliance to develop the infrastructure needed to align program providers to shared impact goals and quality standards. The grants have provided funding for training through the Child protection Training Center at USC Upstate; ongoing Collaborative work sessions; and consultation support from Ron Fairchild, President and CEO of Smarter Learning Group. Meetings of the Collaborative have continued and are open to participation from other youth service/program providers.
For additional information about OST Collaborative meeting times and actions, contact Savannah Ray or Meghan Smith.