Media gallery

Class of 2014-2015

The Riley Institute is proud to announce its third class of White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellows who, beginning in October, 2014 will spend ten months studying afterschool and expanded learning policy and developing state-level policy plans in partnership with their State Afterschool Networks and the National Afterschool Alliance.

The group was on Furman's campus October 5 – 10, 2014. For the White-Riley-Peterson Conference Schedule of Activities, click here.

Meet the 2014-15 class

Read a blog post penned by Lemar Marshall.

 


Caroline Allen

Coordinator
Pennsylvania Afterschool Youth Development Network (Camp Hill, PA)

Caroline worked to establish quality Out-of-School Time (OST) care for all Pennsylvania students by the year 2024. The first step of her project was to create quality afterschool programs in areas where the need is highest. The second step was to form a bi-partisan, bi-cameral afterschool caucus that was followed by an OST planning bill. Watch video


Sara Beanblossom

Director of Communications and Special Events
Indiana Afterschool Network (Indianapolis, IN)

Sara’s primary project goal was to lay the groundwork to increase state investment in Out-of-School Time. The key element in reaching this goal was developing a communication plan to inform legislators about the value of OST. The plan engaged local programs, state leaders, and national leaders and set the stage for a financial ask within the next three years. Watch video


Armelle Casau

Research and Policy Analyst
New Mexico Voices for Children (Albuquerque, NM)

Armelle advocated for additional science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) afterschool opportunities for children in the state and for professional development funds for providers focused on delivering quality STEM programming. This project advocated for STEM in afterschool, wrote and disseminated data-focused fact sheets and a short policy brief that outlines the benefits of quality STEM in afterschool programs, and secured legislative champions from both political parties to provide funding and support for STEM in afterschool across the state. Watch video


Erin Frati

Network Lead
Maine Afterschool Network (Farmington, ME)

Erin worked to build alignment between the Maine Department of Education’s Proficiency Based Diploma and the states 21st Century Community Learning Center Afterschool programs. She developed an alignment questionnaire to study the relationships between schools and their 21st Century programs. She developed much stronger relationships with the Maine DOE and 21st Century program directors throughout the year and played a strong advocacy role when ESEA reauthorization and protecting the 21st Century funding stream become a big issue nationally. Maine’s email campaign to its Congressional Delegation was in the top ten in the country. Watch video


Ricky Gourrier

Executive Director
Nevada Afterschool Network (Las Vegas, NV)

The project Ricky selected was to garner support from the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to assist in the implementation and execution of the Nevada Quality Standards (NQS) amongst 21st CCLC’s across the state. The NQS were developed among stakeholders and practitioners within Nevada. The execution of this project included utilizing a Quality Improvement System (QIS) to assist these programs with obtaining a quality ranking, and getting the NDE to allocate funds for professional development. Ricky’s goal has been to have the NDE write in the RFP that all successfully funded programs from here on out would utilize and subscribe to the NQS to insure success and quality of these programs. Watch video


Casey Hanson

Evaluation and Communication Coordinator
Missouri AfterSchool Network (Columbia, MO)

Casey worked to create more awareness and support around the state to support statewide policies or appropriations aimed at increasing afterschool program capacity. The first activity of this project was to recruit Champions in key legislative districts around the state to help build relationships needed to advance funding for afterschool programs. Casey’s goal was to have five to ten Champions statewide who are dedicated to helping foster these relationships by the end of May 2015. Watch video


Alli Lidie

Policy and Communications Coordinator
New York State Afterschool Network (NYSAN) (New York, NY)

Alli worked to bring together afterschool programs, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), and the legislature. The purpose of this was to increase capacity at OCFS to sufficiently train registrars, explore statutory changes to include some necessary program exemptions to the regulations, and create venues for more consistent communication, both internally and externally at OCFS. Watch video


Britney Lomax

Program and Policy Specialist
Governor’s Office for Children (Baltimore, MD)

Britney developed standardized outcome performance measures to serve as guidelines for out of school programs throughout the state of Maryland. Britney conducted research in this field. Then, she used Results Accountability decision making to use results as the starting point for making decisions. This process starts at the end and works backwards to develop successful methods for reaching her goal.


Lemar Marshall

Council District 4
City of Hammond (Hammond, LA)

Lemar sits on the Hammond City Council in Louisiana where he focuses heavily on afterschool work. Lemar’s project was to establish a sustainable afterschool program for the youth in the Hammond Community. He established the Hammond Youth Education Alliance, successfully completed his pilot year with Young Audiences of Louisiana to establish a baseline for what we wanted to accomplish in afterschool, and held an election cycle with a strong commitment to support Afterschool and summer learning. The community will also be hiring an Out of School Coordinator to facilitate afterschool for the 2015-2016 school year.


Judith McShane

Project Coordinator
University of Idaho 4-H Youth Development (Caldwell, ID)

Judith worked to conduct a statewide survey and map of Idaho out-of school programs currently operating, including those that are offered seasonally, afterschool, or intermittently. With this data, the Idaho Afterschool Network (IAN) will accomplish a number of things. First, IAN will create and promote a statewide interactive GIS-based map for families and youth to search for programs in their communities. Second, IAN will provide the data to analyze the quality and variety of afterschool programs, identifying gaps in service and opportunities for growth. Finally, IAN will provide the feedback to determine what services, resources, or professional development can be collectively offered to ensure programs continue, improve or have a solid beginning. Watch video


Del Ruff

Director
NC Center for Afterschool Programs; Public School Forum of North Carolina (Raleigh, NC)

Del developed the NC Student Opportunities Map, which uses specific icons to provide a snapshot about expanded learning programs in the surrounding zip code or county so that stakeholders can select their preference of programs. This map allows stakeholders to review county data around education, health, economic development, and youth behavior and safety of a given area’s expanded learning opportunities. State leads are also able to report on fiscal snapshots of local, state, federal, and philanthropic funds that expanded learning programs are receiving. Watch video


Jim Snell

Director
Volunteer Tennessee (Nashville, TN)

The Tennessee Afterschool Network, which is still fairly new to Tennessee, is still in its developing stages in terms of policy. Jim has been working to organize afterschool policy initiatives and develop them into more productive policies for the state of Tennessee. Jim assessed existing afterschool policy in Tennessee and compiled best practice policy from other states. Combining these, he created a policy roadmap for the Tennessee Afterschool Network. Watch video


Samantha Thorstensen

Afterschool STEM Policy Director
Florida Afterschool Network (Kennedy Space Center, FL)

Samantha’s goal was for the Florida Afterschool Network to receive more money from state funding for quality STEM education. She began with a pilot project from the state to run one program, and has used this as a step to make connections with legislators in order to receive larger appropriations in the future. Watch video


Rachel Willis

Project Coordinator
Kansas Enrichment Network (Lawrence, KS)

The creation and implementation of a Kansas regional afterschool ambassador program was Rachel’s project. The afterschool ambassador program was compromised of nine Kansas out of school time champions representing a variety of programs and demographics. The ambassadors were charged with a variety of assignments including participating in the first annual Day at the Capitol and hosting elected officials at their sites. These nine individuals created awareness and appreciation for what afterschool and summer learning programs offer youth, families and communities. Watch video


Lori Zahradka

21st CCLC Project Director
North Valley Career-Tech Center (Grafton, ND)

Lori developed a public-private partnership in the afterschool network. She developed a team to assist her in reaching her goal. They have met with a group of partners, found a fiscal sponsor, and have met with legislative leaders to gain input on how to move the project forward. They have also gained support from multiple people in the North Dakota state government. In addition, the University of North Dakota Stem Field Coordinator is advocating for the ND STEM Network, Department of Public instruction, and Dakota Science Center to partner with the emerging work. Watch video

Read a blog post penned by Lemar Marshall