Nationally, more than 14 million K-12 youth must fend for themselves before a parent or guardian returns home from work. In Colorado, 40 percent of middle school students have no after-school supervision. This is reflected in juvenile crime statistics, which triple between 3 and 8 p.m.

As a country and in our own community, we are failing to keep our children safe. Our educators and youth agencies are keenly aware of the opportunities we are missing to reduce drop-out rates and curtail antisocial behaviors. By failing to provide safe, mentored and productive environments in the after-school hours we are giving up on a proven method to improve our kids' education and enrich their lives.

In the fall of 2006, Access Roaring Fork began an after-school technology program at Carbondale Middle School (CMS) focused on developing digital communications skills.

CMS faces some real challenges. Demographically, Carbondale Middle School is 73 percent Latino. Just over 50 percent of the student body qualifies either for reduced-cost or free lunches. As a whole the Latino student population scores 40 percent lower than their Anglo counterparts on standardized tests.

Another factor that affected our decision that is not directly connected to CMS is the rise in juvenile crime throughout Garfield County.

It was clear immediately that after-school programming could address some of the challenges the school faces. Access Roaring Fork joined the nation's largest after-school organization and researched how our local community needs could best be served by the "best practices" being developed for after-school programs in other communities throughout the country.

The hours between the end of the school day and when parents return from work is a risky time for young people. In contrast to the statistics for adults, serious violent crime committed by juveniles increases during the hours immediately after school. “In general, the number of violent crimes committed by adults increases hourly from 6 a.m. through the afternoon and evening hours, peaks at 11 p.m., and then drops to a low point at 6 a.m.,” according to Snyder and Sickmund (1999). “In stark contrast, violent crimes by juveniles peak in the afternoon between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., the hour at the end of the school day.” This same research reports that “19 percent of all juvenile violent crimes occur in the 4 hours between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on school days.” Moreover, a comparison of the crime patterns for school and nonschool days finds that the 3 p.m. peak occurs only on school days (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999).
Juveniles are also at the highest risk of being victimized during this critical period. Recent analyses of the FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data indicates that juveniles are at the highest risk of being the victims of violent crime in the 4 hours following the end of the school day (roughly 2–6 p.m.). In fact, victimization surveys find that even more delinquent acts occur between noon and 6 p.m. (which includes the hours after school) than indicated by the NIBRS data. For example, the National Crime Victimization Survey indicates that “half (51 percent) of all robberies occur between noon and 6 p.m., while the police data show that only 32 percent of juvenile robberies occurred during this period” (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999).

Access Roaring Fork, the leading provider of afterschool programming in our valley, subscribes to the theories and supports the classroom practices of Chris Lehmann. Chris is the principal of the Science Leadership Academy,SLA,an inquiry-driven, project-based high school focused on 21st century learning. Listen to this five minute video and learn where our schools need to go if our kids are to become happy and productive 21 century citizens.
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Access Roaring Fork is working with citizen groups, teachers,administrators,non-profits and local business to expand our program offerings and provide them to more valley middle and elementary schools in the 2009-2010 school year. It is our policy to incorporate innovative programs and technologies which have the potential to positively impact traditional classroom instruction.
Dr. Yong Zhao subscribes to education theories that we endorse. The two examples he sites illustrate how we are moving forward with our technology programs.
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Since most of today's students can appropriately be labeled as "Digital Learners", why do so many teachers refuse to enter the digital age with their teaching practices?
This presentation was created in an effort to motivate teachers to more effectively use technology in their teaching.
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Education Secretary Lauds Extended Day

New U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined education leaders in embracing expanded learning time as part of the solution to improve struggling schools. Click here to learn more.

President-Elect Obama has pledged to double funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the nation's chief funding stream for afterschool. While in the Senate, Obama also introduced legislation to support summer learning programs.

Click here to read more about this historic legislation.

The Harvard Family Research Project is must reading for all those interested in education best practices.   What is complementary learning?
"Educators, policymakers, and families increasingly agree: schools cannot do it alone. Children need multiple opportunities to learn and grow—at home, in school, and in the community. Complementary learning is a comprehensive strategy for addressing all of these needs and ensuring success for all children and youth. Complementary learning is the idea that a systemic approach which intentionally integrates both school and nonschool supports can better ensure that all children have the skills they need to succeed." Click here for access to the full report. You need Adobe Reader to read this document.

Over 100 parents registered their children in the first week of the CMS Afterschool Program. All communications were provided in Spanish and English. A contest was held to encourage early registration. This is a photo of an iPod Shuffle being presented to winner Lucy Stevens by Assistant Principal Patti Present, afterschool liaison Diana Alcantara and Principal, Rick Holt.

Click here to read the Times article.

Majid Kahhak of Kahhak Fine Arts Gallery and School is providing painting classes for the afterschool program.  Please click here for a short video clip of his class.

WIN Wellness Institute Athleticism Director, Curtis Schwab, is providing Athleticism classes as part of the CMS Afterschool Program. What is athleticism? Click here to find out.

Access Roaring Fork's CMS Afterschool Program was recently recognized by Eagle County.

Click here to read more.

The Rotary Club of Carbondale was the first organization to award a grant for Access Roaring Fork's new Carbondale Middle School (CMS) Afterschool Program. The money will be put toward soccer uniforms for the new afterschool soccer program. Principal Rick Holt and teacher Michael Logan are the volunteer coaches.

Steve Kaufman of Access Roaring Fork accepting the Carbondale Rotary Club's
grant from Rotarian's Herschel Ross and Mary Kenyon

Scratch, an MIT developed, National Science Foundation supported, object oriented programming software, was introduced to the Roaring Fork Valley at our 2008 Summer Media Technology Camp.  

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

This day is being organized for students, parents and teachers.  There will be demonstrations, discussions and learning opportunities.

Middle school students in Access Roaring Fork's summer media technology program learned an object oriented programming language called Scratch, developed by MIT and taught at Harvard. Students created animations and games during the learning process. To view some these student projects, please click on the following links:

Angela's "Red Ball Game", "Copter Challenge" by Reynis

"Ben's Name" by Ben and "Elephant" by Devin

To learn more about this how this program develops core 21st century skills, read a 4 year Scratch Study analisys funded by the National Science Foundation by clicking here.

Access Roaring Fork was honored by The Thrift Shop when we were asked to produce a documentary about shop's history. Click here to see a short clip from this work in progress.
For more information about this revered Aspen institution and its efforts to raise money for its new building, click here to read an excellent Aspen Times article.

When a letter to the editor suggested that local
Latino students go back to Mexico, Access Roaring Fork assisted them in uniting to produce a powerful film of tolerance and self determination.
Click here to view "In My Shoes"