Taking It To The Capital!

On Wednesday, May 10th, Education Coordinator, Maggie Negrete and Site Coordinator, Dianna Gil joined over 200 adults and students for Afterschool Advocacy Day in Harrisburg. Our friends at APOST coordinated this annual advocacy trip featuring legislative visits and a rally in the main capital rotunda.

Dianna and I started our day visiting the office of Rep. Harry Readshaw. Mr. Readshaw was not in the office, but we did leave information with his staff regarding our region's policy platform and data pointing to the effectiveness of afterschool programs.

Check out the platform that was created by partners across the state, including APOST, Allies for Children, and Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool Youth Development Network (PSAYDN):

This was Site Coordinator, Dianna's
second advocacy trip to Harrisburg.

Policy Priorities:

Sustainability: secure dedicated funding
Efficiency: streamline and align resources
Quality: promote the quality standards

Policy Strategies:

Amplify: communicating and building awareness of Out-of-School Time
Activate: mobilizing the grassroots OST community to advocate and educate influencers
Advance: educating and researching OST impact

After our meeting, Dianna and I explored the capital and were greatly impressed by the strategies used by the welcome center to teach youth about the legislative process- even Rube Goldberg machines!

Our state capital is home to many amazing murals from local artists.

Personally, I was clamoring to see the incredible murals and architectural details in the main rotunda. Edwin Austin Abbey produced the murals in the early 1900s including the "four forces of civilization": Art, Justice, Science and Religion. Additionally, I learned about turn of the century illustrator, Violet Oakley who painted murals in the Senate and Supreme Court chambers.

We ended our day in the rotunda for the afterschool rally featuring our local representative Jake Wheatley and a performance by our friends at the Hope Academy.

Check out our twitter (@BrashearKids) for more updates from throughout the day.




See yinz next time,

Maggie