Enfield's Educational Resources for Children To Celebrate Lights On Afterschool

October marks the 15th year Educational Resources for Children (ERfC) will join more than 7,500 communities and 1 million Americans to celebrate Lights On Afterschool, a country-wide event organized by The Afterschool Alliance, a national organization that rallies support for afterschool programs.

This year, JFK After School will host an open house on Wednesday, Oct. 22 to showcase many activities that JFK Middle School students participate in after school.

Claire Hall, ERfC Executive Director said in a statement, “We are looking forward to giving parents and community members the opportunity to see the many educational activities that children are involved in during out-of-school hours.”

Hall said, in addition to helping working families and providing a safe place for kids to be with friends, afterschool programs inspire learning and provide youth with enriching opportunities to help them grow into successful adults.

“Quality after school programs give children the opportunity to discover hidden talents as they grow academically and socially,” she said.

According to The Afterschool Alliance, 15.1 million children take care of themselves after the school day ends.

Hall said, in addition to bringing awareness to the community about the need to support local organizations that provide out-of-school time activities to Enfield youth,

JFK After School students also will bring awareness to National Bullying Prevention Month.

Hall said, “We are using our time during the Lights On Afterschool open house to highlight the need to prevent bullying in and out of school.”

The JFK Afterschool open house, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., will include refreshments, provided by students in the Oven Masters cooking program.

In addition to JFK After School, ERfC operates four before and after School-Age Centers at Henry Barnard, Enfield Street, Hazardville Memorial and Nathan Hale Schools for children in grades K-5. Students from Parkman, Crandall, and Eli Whitney also are bused to their in-district primary school centers.

ERfC, also known as Educational Resources for Children, Inc., is a community-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has been providing innovative out-of-school time activities for Enfield children since 1994. In addition to the School-Age Centers, ERfC operates Afterschool Adventures, KidZ Sports, Vacation Destination, Summer Lunch Bunch, Tonight in Thompsonville, and Summer Escape.

For more information about ERfC, and its programs, call 860-253-9935, email info@erfc.us, or visit the ERfC website at www.erfc.us.

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