BUENA PARK : After-School Project Aims at Helping Kids
The City Council teamed up with the Centralia School District this week to establish an after-school recreation program geared at keeping youngsters out of trouble.
A variety of games, sports clinics and group activities will be held at the “Drop-In” after-school club, which will rotate among five of the district’s schools--Buena Terra, Dysinger, Walter Knott, San Marino and Raymond Temple--and staffed by city employees. Children in the first through sixth grades are eligible.
The district will finance the after-school activities with grant money from the state. About $5,000 has been promised to cover all city expenses, including employee salaries and supplies.
“I think it will meet some of the goals outlined in Vision 2010,” Centralia Supt. Pat White told the council this week, referring to a citywide planning project which concluded that more youth-oriented programs were needed to combat gangs and drugs.
More than 4,500 middle- and low-income students attend Centralia’s eight schools in Buena Park, La Palma and Anaheim. The district receives more than $52,000 from the state for a variety of anti-drug and gang programs, including Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) and Positive Avenues for Youth, which is aimed at educating fifth-graders about the dangers of becoming involved in gangs.
Interested students must get permission from their parents to participate. The after-school program is expected to begin next month.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
