After-school programs keep kids safe

By Marc Lucarelli, Tiffany Monde and Kori Sciandra
BengalNews Reporters

During after-school hours children can become curious and restless. Or in some cases get into trouble on city streets.

Buffalo Public Schools such as School 3, on Niagara Street, and School 30, on Vermont and 13 St. have implemented after school programs in order to occupy students’ time during crucial hours that students may be exposed to drugs, weapons and violence.

“We have two programs that begin with academics,” Dr. Wanda Shoenfeld principal of School 30 said. “The first hour we emphasize on reading and math and the second hour the students are involved with music, physical education, art, cooking, arts and craft, tutoring, cheer leading, swimming, basketball, and computers, just to name a few.”

While the schools are implementing these programs there is still a need outside the system.

Evelyn Pizarro, former principal of School 3, is now the project director at The Belle Center Community Center on 104 Maryland St.

Pizarro said that The Belle Center upholds a gentlemen’s agreement with neighborhood drug dealers in order to maintain civility. They stay away from the children and she doesn’t call them in.

This shows how real the danger is to the children in the community. Without afterschool programs offering activities for children to take part in, they could very well get caught up in the illegal behavior that happens daily on the streets.

Evelyn Pizarro says it's hard to get kids to come regularly:


The center welcomes children and splits them up into various age groups so the program can benefit them in the best way possible. While it gives students a place to do homework and enjoy numerous activities it operates under the 21ST Century Grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, which provides opportunities for children to participate in activities during non-school hours.

“If you get the same crop of kids coming at least three times a week that’s a good program, if you get an average of some kids that come maybe six times a month that’s still considered good, “said Pizarro.

When the children come to the center they have a minimum of 45 minutes of homework they have to complete. Supervisors at the Center also have teacher’s e-mail addresses so they can keep track of the work the students need to catch up on.

Once the students’ work is done they can take part in activities in the gym and game room. There is also a pool that is being fixed, and they hope to have it working by the summer.

These after-school programs from both facilities are also benefiting the community. Shoenfeld said they have just completed a program called Urban Studies where students were involved with looking closer at their neighborhood and planning to make it better.

At The Belle Center the children work with AmeriCorps, a national non-profit organization, Children are able to be more involved in the neighborhood by shoveling porches in the winter and painting houses among other things.

“My kids are going to be involved on Global Youth Day on April 24, and there is going to be activities all over the city like cleaning gardens and cleaning up graffiti,” said Pizarro. “We can choose one of the activities that AmeriCorps is doing and our group will go with their group and do those.”

The influence of good role models and the opportunity to attend afterschool programs is something Pizarro and Shoenfeld said is an essential part of the success of the programs.

“I believe that with an after-school program we keep students off the street and they feel a part of something bigger,” Shoenfeld said. “We, the teachers have an opportunity to extent the academic learning and practice differently than what takes place during the regular school day.”

Police league provides programs

Assisting in the effort to keep children off the streets in Buffalo is the Buffalo Police Athletic League with a variety of safe, fun activities to keep them entertained and out of trouble.

The Buffalo Police Athletic League provides a example of what can be done when people take a vested interest in helping kids become better individuals. PAL’s mission is to teach kids life skills, leadership, and direction by providing them with organized activities in a safe comfortable environment.

PAL provides a wide array of athletic programs including basketball leagues, a baseball league, ice skating, tennis, golf, floor hockey, and even a boxing program. PAL also provides other educational opportunities to the children at the seven community centers of the PAL program are: Asarese-Matters, Machnisa, Hennepin, Lincoln, Tosh Collins, Lanigan, and JFK.

The Buffalo Police Athletic League serves around 40,000 children in the Buffalo-Niagara area and is funded through grants from the City of Buffalo, Erie County, New York State, and other private and public donations.