|
|||||
|
Fall 2006 |
|||||
|
In this issue:
|
Welcome to the first e-newsletter of Project My Time. During our early planning stages, we were known as “the Wallace Initiative” and as “YES!DC.” But we always knew we needed a name that would appeal to young people. We decided to call this initiative to strengthen DC’s after-school programs for middle school students “Project My Time,” a name intended to convey the values of fun, choice, safety, learning, achievement and success. We hope you’ll share this newsletter with others in the community who may want to receive it. Our New Web Site Goes Live!We just launched the new Project My Time web site: www.projectmytime.org. Sign up for our newsletter and learn more about our exciting new initiative. We’d love to hear what you think about our new site. Project My Time Pilots Set to Open in JanuaryOn January 16, the first three Project My Time sites will open at Hart, Lincoln, and Kelly Miller Middle Schools. We were excited to get 28 proposals from potential programs for those sites. Those proposals are being reviewed by DC Trust staff and others. Final selections from the top proposals will be made by December 8th by site directors, school principals and Project My Time staff. In December, we’ll also start outreach at the pilot schools. That will include presentations at PTA meetings, posters and flyers in the schools, and ads in neighborhood stores. We are currently putting together enrollment packages, which will include information on Project My Time, a catalogue of available programs, enrollment forms, and an explanation of the evaluation process. While the programs begin in January, we will continue our outreach and accept enrollments at any time. Welcome to Our New Project My Time StaffMeeta Sharma-Holt began her professional life in the corporate world. As an undergraduate at Penn State University, Sharma-Holt earned a degree in business and marketing and landed her first job in consumer product sales.
So she changed careers. Following a personal passion for community service and children, Sharma-Holt enrolled in the Columbia University School of Social Work – drastically redirecting her career goals from the boardroom to the city streets. Now, with 14 years of experience under her belt, Sharma-Holt is bringing her passion and expertise to DC as the director of the Trust’s new after-school initiative, Project My Time. As the director, Sharma-Holt will lead efforts to launch the new program and involve students, parents, schools and community partners. She is no stranger to launching successful youth initiatives. And ironically, the very background that she had rejected ended up helping her “immensely,” Sharma-Holt said. “I was able to understand how to interact with corporate leaders.” While working at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, Sharma-Holt developed a corporate mentoring program that grew from 12 youths and one company to 250 youths and 20 corporations in the span of five years. The program was so successful that it was nationally replicated. For seven years, Sharma-Holt also directed a host of youth services for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in New York City, managing a multi-site after-school program, overseeing summer day camps and running tutoring programs for children 5 to 18 years old. In that role, she chaired a consortium of Upper East Side and East Harlem youth service agencies and managed an annual budget of $900,000. Sharma-Holt arrived in DC a year ago and most recently managed an after-school initiative for the Public Charter Schools Center for Student Support Services. “I’ve worked for a long time at understanding what children and families need in New York City and in DC as well,” she said. “When I came to DC about a year and a half ago, I really wanted to find a way to impact, dramatically, the status of children here. So for me, personally, this provides an opportunity to do that.” Also joining the Project My Time staff is Assistant Project Director Ed Davies, who previously served for two years as the Trust’s associate director for school and community partnerships and also worked as a manager for education at the Fannie Mae Foundation. Karene Brodie is the director of the newly-formed Office of Community Partnerships at DCPS to support and promote the community, foundation and corporate engagement with DC Public Schools. Administrative Assistant Shanta Hendry, who has been with the Trust for more than a year, is also part of the staff. At the three pilot sites for Project My Time, site directors will coordinate the after-school activities. The site directors are: Byra Cole at Kelly Miller Middle School, Brodrick Clarke at Abraham Lincoln Middle School and John Williams at Charles Hart Middle School. Welcome all to Project My Time! DC After-School Programs Featured at Lights On Afterschool! Event
At the event, held at the historic Charles Sumner School, youths, advocates and public school officials invited the District’s business community to support after-school initiatives like Project My Time, which the Trust will launch in January. The Lights On Afterschool! event, hosted by the Trust and the Fannie Mae Foundation, was one of more than 7,500 events taking place across the nation that day. Sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance, the national event brought attention to the need for after-school programs that keep children safe, help working families, and inspire learning.
In addition to the performances, youth representatives from five after-school programs – DC SCORES, the Higher Achievement Program, the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, 21st Century Community Learning Center of D.C. Public Schools and the WVSA Arts Connection – shared photos, handouts and personal stories at information tables. John Hill, Trust board chair and CEO of Federal City Council, encouraged business and community leaders to become involved with the District’s after-school programs as funders, mentors and supporters to make lasting effects on children’s lives. A panel of speakers also addressed the audience, including Stacey D. Stewart, president and CEO of Fannie Mae Foundation; Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance; Greg Roberts, Trust president and CEO; and Dr. Clifford B. Janey, superintendent of D.C. Public Schools. The emcee was Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer. Save the date!Trust grantees: This year’s Citywide Year Round and Summer Strategy Sessions begin Dec. 1 at the Washington Court Hotel. Please visit www.cyitc.org for more details and registration.
Project My Time is an initiative of the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation. |
||||
“I
just didn’t find a lot of intrinsic value in that work,”
said Sharma-Holt, a native of India who grew up in Pittsburgh.
Powerful
poetry performances by Hart Middle School students and soulful singing
by youth performers with the Friends of Carter Barron Foundation of
the Performing Arts were highlights of the 7th annual Lights On Afterschool!
event held Oct. 12. Before an audience of community and business leaders,
young people from various after-school programs like the young poets
from the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop shared their experiences as
a testament to the success of out-of-school time activities. 
