CONWAY, Ark.
(March 24, 2014) –Hendrix freshmen Peter Butler of Naperville, Ill., and Anna
King of Kansas City, Kan., are advocating for state-funded after-school
programs in struggling schools, with activities ranging from study hall,
tutoring and physical activities in order to provide a safe place for students
to grow and learn outside of regular school hours.
Both students are
members of the Hendrix chapter of Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, a
national student-run think tank affiliated with the Roosevelt Institute. They
developed the idea and wrote the proposal for the Roosevelt’s 10 Ideas series, a publication of 60
best policy ideas from chapters and members across the United States.
Butler and King
co-wrote a letter to Gov. Mike Beebe to advocate for state-funded after-school
programs in Arkansas, and they just recently met with the Governor’s policy director
to discuss their proposal.
“After-school
programs provide a positive environment that will give students stability,
safety and guidance to students in troubled areas. Students enrolled in after-school
programs are half as likely to later drop out of high school. After school
programs give cross-disciplinary exposure to students in subjects they not
normally exposed to,” they wrote in their letter.
The students
also noted that, according to a 2009 Department of Education report, chronic
absenteeism has dropped 25 to 40 percent in some schools with after-school
programs. Disciplinary referrals have
decreased as well, and after-school programs even show an increase in
proficiency in state testing scores. Despite these benefits, about half (44
percent) of public schools report not having any type of after-school program.
Founded in
1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences
education. For the sixth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the
country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That
Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, as well
as the 2014 Princeton
Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's
list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist
Church since 1884. For
more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.