PICTURE OUR GROWTH AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS 2018 Annual ReportSUPPORT OUR YOUTH afterschoolallstars.org/giveDEAR SUPPORTERS My heart was racing as I was sitting in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office across from the After-School All-Stars (ASAS) Board of Directors, waiting to speak about how ASAS helped transform my life. These inspiring men and women are passionate about ensuring that students have access to the high quality after-school programs, just like the one that helped me get into this seat today. All my memories came flooding back. ASAS means so much to me, to my family and community, to my past, but more importantly, to my future. At the end of the summer, I’ll be packing my bags and travelling to rural Vermont, to begin my freshman year at Middlebury College. I was lost in fantasy of studying in a state-of-the-art chemistry lab, wearing a white lab coat, when I heard my name being called, “Citlali, what was your ASAS experience like?” I took a second to gather my thoughts - I had so much to tell! Where to begin? I first heard about ASAS during 6th grade orientation. My mom worked late and needed somewhere for me to stay after-school. I went every day, participated in healthy cooking classes and science fairs, but my favorite activity was our leadership class, where I served as Secretary and later, President. The following year, I was selected to join the National Youth Advisory Board, representing the Los Angeles chapter. That summer, we were sent to Washington DC for a leadership training camp focusing on public speaking and community service. Since then, I had the opportunity to head up several community organizations and represent ASAS at a number of speaking engagements, I even appeared on CNN with Van Jones alongside the Governor. At the end of 8th grade, I was presented with a special gift: a gavel engraved with my name in recognition of my service on the Youth Advisory Board. I’ll take it to college with me. It has such a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to attend Middlebury (on a full scholarship) and leave my mark on the campus. I plan to study biology or biochemistry, to enter medical school and become a pediatrician, my dream job. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities I received and it’s my honor to continue working with this fabulous organization as an alumnus, helping to establish our first ever alumni network. I’m honored to present our 2017-2018 annual report. I hope you will take a moment to gain a deeper understanding of how ASAS is fueling the growth of young people like me. I want to thank our board and founders, our generous partners and supporters, and our dedicated staff and mentors who are in classrooms every day. Thank you so much for always believing in me and thank you for being a part of our All-Star Family. Sincerely, Citlali Aguilera-Rico ASAS Alumnus LETTER FROM ALL-STARS ALUMNUSPICTURE CHANGE STUDENT STORIES Wallace Wyatt III started off as a student in our After-School All-Stars program, then went on to become a volunteer, and is now one of our program leaders at After-School All-Stars North Texas. His dream is to one day be the next CEO of After-School All-Stars. Currently, he is a graduate student at Southern Methodist University and is working on his Master’s in Non-Profit Organizational Management. 1. What Are Your Current Goals—Academically, Personally, And Professionally? “Academically, I want to be the first in my immediate family to graduate with my doctoral degree. I am almost there, currently working on my masters. Professionally and personally, it is my desire, short-term, to become a site coordinator here in North Texas. Long-term, I want to stay with After-School All-Stars and who knows, maybe I will become the next Ben Paul, the next CEO of the organization. After-School All-Stars is literally family to me—my father and my current stepmother met through All-Stars, got married, and I now have two younger siblings.” 2. Are There Any Social Good Causes You Are Particularly Passionate About And Consider Yourself An Advocate For? “Definitely leadership. We all just want to be heard. I see it in the kids that I work with here in North Texas. I strive to be an intentional leader that advocates for others. I want to let my students know that their voice matters and that they can accomplish whatever it is they want to do. I want to be the adult that I needed while I was growing up.” 3. Looking Back On Your Life, How Different Would You Say Your Life Trajectory Would Be Without After-School All-Stars? “If I didn’t have After-School All-Stars in my life, I think there is a strong possibility I would be in one of two places—I would either be incarcerated or dead. And I say that because of all the anger that was built up inside of me from trying my hardest to be the child that was accepted at home. It wasn’t until After-School All-Stars that I learned there is more to life than just the community you were brought up in. And getting that exposure, getting encouraged and motivated, showed me how to attain my goals.” 4. How Would You Describe Yourself Before And After After-School All-Stars? “Before After-School All-Stars I was really lost and just trying to go with the flow, which is a very dangerous place to be because I wasn’t willing to oppose anything that was given to me. But now with After-School All-Stars, I learned that it’s okay to respectfully voice your opinion. I was, and am continually being encouraged as an employee now, to openly share what’s on my heart and on my mind. I finally feel like my voice matters.” 5. What Is One Lesson You Gained From Being In After-School All-Stars? “My biggest lesson from All-Stars was learning to be my authentic self. Now that I have found my voice, I’m holding onto it, and I won’t let anyone take it away. And now that I have developed and found who I am, I am able to encourage others to be their authentic selves.” WallacePICTURE CHANGE STUDENT STORIES Citlali Aguilera-Rico is a former After-School All-Stars alum and current high school senior preparing to begin her college journey later this year at Middlebury College in Vermont. In December of 2018, on her 18th birthday, Citlali found out she was one of ten recipients of the prestigious, full-tuition Posse leadership scholarship. We sat down with Citlali to find out more about how she got to where she is today. We are so excited to see what her future holds. 1. What Are Your Current Goals—Academically, Personally, And Professionally? “Academically and professionally, once I get to Middlebury, I want to study biology and become a pediatrician. I have such a strong love and passion for learning about the human body and how it works, plus I love working with kids. Personally, I want to continue to be a leader on campus and have already been looking at various student organizations. Middlebury is a predominantly white college so I am looking at how I can bring my heritage, my own personal experiences, and living in a diverse place like Los Angeles to the students of Middlebury. I want to make sure we are not just adding a few more clubs to the campus for the sake of ‘diversity’ but are truly striving to do better, to raise awareness and to hold the right conversations on campus. The world is very polarized right now and we should be able to come together, have these important conversations, and make great change in the world.” 2. Are There Any Social Good Causes You Are Particularly Passionate About And Consider Yourself An Advocate For? “I definitely consider myself an advocate for After-School All-Stars because they have been there for me my entire life. My mom was a middle school administrator, so I didn’t get to see her often, and my dad was a high school math teacher; they were both always very busy. After-School All-Stars was there for me when I needed somewhere to be; it was a good place for me to do my homework and provided extracurricular activities for me. I think it’s highly important for there to be proper funding and a better understanding surrounding the education and social emotional intelligence of middle schoolers specifically.” 3. Looking Back On Your Life, How Different Would You Say Your Life Trajectory Would Be Without After-School All-Stars? “Through All-Stars and being a Youth Advisory Board Member, I found a lot of confidence in myself, which ultimately led to me becoming the person I am today. Without All-Stars, I would have continued to be this shy person who did not believe in herself and did not know what she was actually capable of doing. I am very active at my school and am involved with various organizations so people will walk by me and say ‘oh, you talked at that assembly, right?’. Without After-School All-Stars I would not be that person. Honestly, I would not even have this Posse scholarship because it is a leadership-based scholarship and all the fundamentals of leadership and how I became a leader came through All-Stars and by being a Youth Advisory Board Member.” 4. How Would You Describe Yourself Before And After After-School All-Stars? “Before All-Stars, I was extremely shy. When I was 9 years old, my dad passed away which really caused me to close in and stop talking to my friends. I became really quiet and kept to myself. But then in middle school, I joined ASAS and I was able to make friends, be involved in extracurricular activities, and eventually be selected to be a Youth Advisory Board Member. I was able to spread my wings, learn public speaking, and gain leadership skills in order to become the person I am today.” 5. What Is One Lesson You Gained From Being In After-School All-Stars? “I learned that leadership is not about being the boss and telling everyone what to do but it is making sure that everyone has a chance to speak, being empathetic towards others, and not arguing but understanding other people’s perspective. Leadership is about open communication. Additionally, being part of the program exposed me to kids from all over the country with their own stories, their own struggles, some similar and some different to mine. That cross-cultural communication was extremely beneficial to me and I know that is something that will carry me on throughout my life.” CitlaliOUR FOOTPRINT NATIONAL ORGANIZATION DATA & DEMOGRAPHICS ASAS provides free, comprehensive after-school programming for low-income K-12 students at Title 1 schools in cities across the nation. OUR STUDENTS DIVERSITY 50% Female 50% Male 46% Black/African American35% Hispanic/Latinx 9% White 7% Asian American/Pacific Islander 2% Other1% Native American/Alaskan Native SCHOOL LEVEL 40% Elementary (K-4) 56% Middle (5-8) 4% High (9-12) 85% of our students qualify for a Free or Reduced Lunch Program OUR MISSION After-School All-Stars (ASAS) provides comprehensive after- school programs that keep children safe and help them succeed in school and life. OUR VISION Our vision is for our All-Stars to be safe and healthy, to graduate high school and go to college, to find careers they love and then give back to their communities. 60 CITIES 13 STATES 19 CHAPTERS 468 SCHOOLS 5,600 TRAINED STAFF 90,718 STUDENTS 90,718 STUDENTS SERVED AND SUPPORTEDASAS is the largest middle-school based after-school program in the country. 2018 was a record-breaking fundraising year for us!WINDSONG TRUST PARTNERSHIP SPOTLIGHT Windsong Trust is a key partner in After-School All-Stars’ efforts to ensure that our students are prepared to graduate from high school, go on to college or join the workforce, and lead healthy, fulfilling lives. Additionally, with Windsong Trust’s support in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, ASAS provides high school readiness, college immersion, and health and fitness programs to thousands of youth each year. Support from Windsong Trust has been instrumental to ASAS’ ability to offer high-quality, foundational programs for youth while also creating innovative new after-school learning opportunities. In 2018, Windsong Trust expanded our partnership to pilot an original career and technical education program, Show Your Work. This program engages middle school students through original curricula that foster hands-on learning experiences, skill building, and meaningful interactions with professionals in commercial real estate development, architecture, advanced manufacturing, construction technology, and culinary arts.ADVOCACY After-School All-Stars (ASAS) serves 90,718 students in 60 cities and 468 schools. However, despite our efforts, we realize greater unmet needs remain. As one of the largest national youth-serving organizations, we engage our legislative leaders to educate policymakers and advocate for additional investments in our programs and high-quality afterschool and summer programs wherever they operate. Below are a few highlights from the past 2017-2018 fiscal year: Federal Advocacy We partnered with the Afterschool Alliance to co-sponsor a series of Capitol Hill staff briefings in Washington, D.C. on the importance of preserving the annual $1.2 billion in federal 21st Century Community Learning Center funding. ASAS Orlando alum and current college student, Ashley Castillo, traveled to Washington to share her personal story on how the program has impacted her life. Other federal funding initiatives we work to protect include: Americorps, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Mentoring Funds, the Perkins Career and Technical Education, and proper funding for after-school programming. State Advocacy In states where ASAS has multiple chapters, our local staff, students, parents and board members are teaming up to go to their state capitols to make their case. In Hawaii, students organized a rally on Lights On, Afterschool Day. In Ohio, former Governor Kasich showed moral support by attending our events and further supported our work in Columbus, Toledo and Cleveland. In Florida, our Tampa, Orlando and Miami chapters met with legislators to increase funding for program expansion. County and City Advocacy In Orlando, our chapter worked closely with Mayor Buddy Dyer and city agencies to boost program services. Our South Florida Chapter held an event announcing our expansion into Broward County. In San Antonio, former Mayor Henry Cisneros and State Senator John Montford co-hosted our annual luncheon to make our case to 300 local leaders. In Newark, Mayor Baraka attended the opening of a new Makers Space in our support. And in Camden, New Jersey, we held an event with the Sixers announcing our expansion into two more schools.Next >