 
Making Afterschool Better!
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Afterschool News June 2011
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DASN Launches Volunteer Placement Program
| | DASN's new Volunteer Placement Program places trained volunteers in our member programs to serve as tutors and homework helpers for the students. With staffing and budgetary constraints, volunteers can fill a critical void in programs' ability to give children the one-on-one attention and help they need.
With few exceptions, most afterschool programs do not employ a volunteer coordinator. Thus, many have a haphazard approach to volunteer recruitment, training and retention that often leads to unsatisfied or ineffective volunteers who do not serve for long periods of time. By centralizing this function at DASN, we can ensure a higher quality of afterschool volunteers for all of our member organizations. And for the community, DASN now serves as one-stop shopping for all afterschool volunteer assignments.
In addition, DASN was awarded a grant from the AmeriCorps VISTA program that enabled us to place a full-time VISTA Summer Associate in 10 of our members' summer programs for 8 to 10 weeks. DASN was able to give each of the following agencies a free VISTA member to serve as a full-time staff person for the summer:
Camp Fire USA Lone Star Council; Dallas Community Lighthouse; Heart House Dallas; Interfaith Housing Coalition; Jubilee Park and Community Center; Neighborhood Service Council; Richardson ISD; Trinity River Mission; Wesley Rankin Community Center; Wilkinson Center  | | DASN VISTA Summer Associates |
Chase Martin, our Volunteer Coordinator, is actively seeking opportunities to present these volunteer needs to corporate, professional, faith-based or youth groups around our community. If you know of a group that might be interested in afterschool or summer volunteer activities, please let Chase know.
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Passionate High School Athlete Helps Hundreds of Afterschool Students
| | Alison Deopfner is a junior at Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She is an avid year-round softball player, and pitches for her school Varsity team. Alison knows how the right kind and amount of equipment adds to the fun of playing sports. And she has the maturity to recognize that not all young people have access to the sporting equipment she enjoys.
So Alison took it upon herself to collect gently used sporting equipment for less fortunate children in her community. She collected from families in her neighborhood; she asked her teammates to donate equipment that they had outgrown; and she received permission from Extra Innings, a baseball and softball training facility, to take everything from their Lost and Found. All together, she gave Dallas AfterSchool Network a large collection of baseball and softball gloves; bats and helmets; softballs, tennis balls and soccer balls; roller skates; cleats; and various other items.
Alison's efforts supplied several afterschool programs with some "extras" that they can no longer afford to buy because of budget cuts. And she personally enabled hundreds of children to participate in sports that otherwise would not have been possible.
One passionate high school student...Dozens of pieces of sporting equipment... Hundreds of children who benefit.
Alison wrote us a note saying "I hope that the children receiving this equipment enjoy using it afterschool and during the summer, and know how grateful I am to have the chance to help them." Do you want to join Alison and help supply local afterschool programs with supplies or equipment? Contact Nikki Young to find out how you can help!
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2DASN High School Seniors Receive Scholarships
| | Two high school seniors enrolled in DASN member programs are the proud recipients of the first DASN scholarship awards. The awards are made possible through the generous support of the Powdermaker Foundation and the Keith and Helen Beers Family Foundation.
The private foundations partnered with Dallas AfterSchool Network to select deserving students within the afterschool community. Each award, valued at $8,000 over four years, is provided in recognition for the students' academic and personal achievements; community service; and financial need. The recipients were:
- Devon Miller, a long-time Junior Players student who recently graduated from
 | | Devon Miller |
Garland High School with a 4.4 GPA. In addition to extensive stage work with Junior Players, Devon was a member of his school Speech and Debate team and was a member of the National Honor Society. In addition, Devon tutors children in Garland elementary schools and works as a Youth Counselor. Devon intends to study Theater (a passion ignited by Junior Players) and Political Science at Southern Methodist University.
- Carina Torress, who attended Trinity River Mission since the 1st grade. Carina
 | | Carina Torres |
was a member of TRM's "Believe & Achieve" college bound program. As such, she completed hundreds of hours of community service and computer research hours each year. Carina graduated from Booker T. Washington High School with a 3.6GPA and plans to attend Sam Houston State University to pursue a dual degree in Dance and Physical Therapy.
Congratulations Devon and Carina! We are proud of your accomplishments and look forward to hearing of your successes. And thank you to the Powdermaker and Beers families for helping to fund these young people's dreams.
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| Middle School Students Bowl for the First Time | | Chances are, everyone reading this newsletter has bowled many times, likely taking it for granted each time we do. But for the immigrant children served by Heart House Dallas, bowling is just one of many cultural and social outings they have never experienced.
That all changed last month when the Dallas office of R.W. Baird asked Dallas AfterSchool Network how they could involve our students in their "Baird Gives Back" initiative. Bowling was chosen as a fun activity in which both students and Baird employees could participate. And until their afternoon at Dallas 360 Bowl, the only bowling these students had seen was on the Wii gaming machine at Heart House!
It was hard to determine what the 35 middle school students enjoyed most - the bowling, or the hot dogs and pizza provided for them! Regardless, the afternoon was great fun and there was an endless supply of smiles from both the students and the Baird employees.
The outing highlighted for all of us how much of an impact quality afterschool programs can have on disadvantaged children. Beyond the tutoring and mentoring, they also can provide unique opportunities that these children might otherwise never receive from their parents or the traditional school day. |
Double Your Investment. Donate Before June 30!
| | Now through June 30, every investment in Dallas AfterSchool Network will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous DASN supporter. Now is the perfect time to invest in quality afterschool for our community.
How You Can Make a Difference:
- $25 buys school supplies for one student
- $100 purchases 30 books for an afterschool library
- $500 rents a bus for 100 students to take a college campus tour
- $1,000 buys 4 netbook computers for students to access online curriculum
Donate online or mail checks made payable to Dallas AfterSchool Network to 2902 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204.
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Dallas AfterSchool Network is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our member agencies operate approximately 400 afterschool sites, serving nearly 30,000 students in Dallas, Tarrant, Rockwall, and Collin Counties.
www.dasn.org
214-306-8400
Dallas AfterSchool Network makes afterschool better. |
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