JANUARY 2022
DALLAS AFTERSCHOOL NEWS
WE'RE RETURNING TO THE PLAYGROUND IN 2022!
Join us Friday, March 25th along with Event Chairs Ellen & Steve Miller and Honorary Chair Ben Leal as we enjoy an evening of nostalgic schoolyard fun! RECESS will be held at The Empire Room this year and will feature a bevy of indoor and outdoor games, gourmet cafeteria-inspired food, spiked adult juice boxes, and LIVE MUSIC by Manhattan. Plus, you won't want to miss our famous prize-filled sandbox!
Concerned about COVID safety? Rest assured. RECESS 2022 is a vaccine-required event!
IF/THEN® SUPPORT HELPS HIGHLIGHT WOMEN'S ROLES IN STEM
We are incredibly grateful to Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the If/Then® Fund at Texas Women's Foundation for their support of our new curriculum on climate change. With their help, we created four new learning units with in-depth looks at concepts like green engineering and restoring ecosystems in order to raise awareness of climate change and also to allow young girls to imagine themselves in STEM careers. Each activity includes If/Then® pictures, biographies, and video interviews of female scientists who work on the front lines of climate change.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO
Christina K. Hanger
Happy New Year!

Ringing in the year with a new COVID variant is enough to get anyone down, but there is still much to look forward to in 2022. For us at Dallas Afterschool, this means more work and progress on our ECOST Workforce Development program. Thanks to recent funding from Communities Foundation of Texas, our team is hard at work creating better outcomes, not only for students and the Out-of-School Time sector, but also for the professionals that support it.

Thank you for continuing to believe in our mission and work! We appreciate your support as we create a new future for Out-of-School Time!

Sincerely,
WE HAVE A NEXT GENERATION LEADER ON STAFF!
Congratulations to our own Tozyea Reed, Director of Community & Partner Resources, for being honored as one of National Afterschool Association's 2022 Next Generation of Afterschool Leaders!

We are extremely proud of Tozyea for this well-deserved recognition on the national stage. She will also be featured in the Spring edition of NAA's AfterSchool Today magazine.
ADVOCACY - IT'S TIME TO ACT!
The City of Dallas is planning its next budget, which includes the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The CDBG helps fund the Park and Recreation Department's high-quality afterschool programs that serve nearly 900 children in our community.

It's time for YOU to make a difference! FILL OUT THIS COMMENT FORM by February 25 and use question #6 to tell city leaders why the Park and Recreation Department's afterschool programs matter. These programs are crucial to post-pandemic recovery and can ensure more students have access to the learning and enrichment opportunities they need to emerge from this crisis stronger, resilient, and ready to thrive.

More information about the city's budgeting process, including a schedule for informational meetings, can be found HERE.

Questions? Contact Yanela Montoya or call (214) 278-6626.

Dallas Afterschool
214.306.8400
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