Nominate Your Program for a MetLife Afterschool Innovator Award

You may be eligible to win $10,000 to help support your afterschool program thanks to the MetLife Foundation.  That’s right—the 2011 MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award nomination process has begun!

If you’re unfamiliar with the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award, let me explain:

For the fourth year in a row, the Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are partnering to develop and disseminate a series of Issue Briefs that highlight promising afterschool programs from across the country.  This year, the briefs will again focus on programs that address topics related to middle school youth and we need your help to find programs that fit into one of the four Issue Brief topics below:

• Providing Opportunities for Service Learning for Middle School Students - For exemplary middle school programs that are offering service learning opportunities to middle school youth by integrating community service with instruction to enrich learning experiences, teach civic responsibility and strengthen their communities.
   
• Aligning Afterschool with the School Day for Middle School - For afterschool programs that reinforce and complement the students' regular academic programming in school and innovatively assist students in meeting state and local academic achievement standards in core academic subjects while also broadening their learning experiences.
   
• Addressing Middle School Bullying – For afterschool programs that address the issue of bullying in a novel and creative way to teach children the dangers of ostracizing their peers and ways to deal with bullies.
   
• Supporting Literacy for Middle School Students - For innovative afterschool programs that are excelling in promoting increased literacy, competent writing skills and a passion for reading among participating youth.

Consider nominating a program for a chance to be highlighted in our Issue Briefs and for an opportunity to receive a MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award.  The award will go to afterschool programs that exemplify promising practices in each of the four areas listed above. Awards will be given out by the Afterschool Alliance in conjunction with Lights On Afterschool in October, 2011.  Award winners will be notified in the summer so that they can begin to prepare Lights On events to celebrate their success. Each recipient will receive an award of $10,000 to be used to continue or improve upon the highlighted program.

Check out who won the 2010 MetLife Innovator Awards and nominate your program today!  If you have any questions, contact me at cdagostino@afterschoolalliance.org or call (202) 347-2030.

Nominations must be submitted by Tuesday, May 31, so make your nomination soon.  Be sure that your program doesn’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to increase funding and be featured in a major afterschool publication.