The City of Columbus' Capital Kids program is participating this evening in a "Lights on Afterschool" event.More than 70 "Lights On" events, including open houses and parties, are being held throughout Ohio to emphasize the value of afterschool programs. Proponents say the programs keep kids safe, help working families, and inspire learning. Allison Wallace of the Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Center Association says Ohio afterschool programs serve 350-thousand students thanks to state and federal funding, as well as grants. And Wallace says research indicates students who attend afterschool programs are more likely to improve academically than those who do not attend.
Wallace - "Afterschool programs are perhaps our best economic development strategy to make sure that we’re having every child graduate from high school so that they can go on to college, they can go onto a technical school or they can go into the employment field, but that they then become contributing members of our society."