Celebrate After-School Programs Through Art/Essay Contest

The After School Alliance, a subset of the state’s Commission on Children, invites students in after-school programs to participate in the first annual Art and Essay Contest.

Students from elementary through high school attending both public and private institutions are eligible to participate. Topics are: Why are after-school programs important? or What is special about my after-school program?

The contest is designed to raise public awareness about the growing need for all children and youth to have safe, supervised, enriching out-of-school-time programs. Connecticut has 617,000 school-age children and only a third are participating in supervised activities. Focusing on the after-school hours is critical only for children and working families, but also for communities.

Send entries to Commission on Children, 18-20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106. Deadline for submission is October 20. Winners and their families will be recognized at a ceremony Thursday, October 29, at the Boys and Girls Club in Shelton from 6 to 8 pm.

For more information, contact Liz Brown at 860-240-0042 or visit www.cga.state.us/coc/