Morristown’s Neighborhood House says the choice is simple: Pay now to keep kids out of trouble, or pay a lot more later to deal with the trouble.
That’s essentially the pitch that volunteers are making this summer as they try to raise up to $150,000 to save the STARS after-school program.
Virtually all state funding was cut for such programs, and although one-third has been restored statewide, Neighborhood House administrators say there are no guarantees that their nonprofit will see any of that money.
STARS– an acronym for Smart Talented Athletic Responsible Students — provides academic, cultural and recreational activities for middle-schoolers in the afternoon, until their parents get home from work.
Many of the children come from low-income households that cannot afford after-school daycare, according to David Walker, executive director of the Neighborhood House. Funding cuts already forced the STARS program to pare its roster from more than 200 students down to 150. The program faces further reductions or elimination if private funds cannot be raised, David says.
We produced this video in cooperation with our friends at NJ Spotlight, a new website that tracks educational issues in Trenton. The violin instructor in the piece is Valerie Levy of the Colonial Symphony. The drumming instructor is Mark Wood of Wood’N Drums.
