 Hi, welcome to CTN Member Highlights. I'm Leslie McVane, and my guest today is Amy Peche. Peche. Pechette. Pechette. From LearningWorks. Hi, Amy. Hi. Now you're the director of the after school programs at LearningWorks. And how many schools do you have after school programs in? For LearningWorks, we have 11 altogether in four different districts. So we have six schools in Portland, two in Bitterford, two in South Portland, and one in Waterboro. Wow, that's a little more than I realized. And I'm on the board at LearningWorks, so I should know that. But we're here to talk about something special that's happening coming up on the 20th. And that's Lights On After School. Do you want to tell us a little bit about what that is? Sure. Lights On After School is a day, a national day, to highlight after school programs and the importance and the need and what they do for our communities. So October 20th, it's called Lights On After School Rally in downtown at the City Hall to share with our community what after school programs look like here in Portland and what they do for kids. So it's from 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock? 3.30 is when people can start coming until about 5. And at 4.15 we'll have a presentation. So it's going to be open to anyone in the community who wants to learn more about the after school program. And will some of the kids from the after school program be doing presentations? Yes. So everybody, LearningWorks after school, a company of girls, the Telling Room, Portland Rec, the Boys and Girls Club, and probably some others I'm forgetting, will all be gathered. Some of them will bring students, and they'll have tables and kind of share with what they're doing. And then during the presentation, there'll be some student performances. So there's going to be a student from the Telling Room who's going to share his part of his novel that he wrote last year, which is incredible. We're going to have some little dancers. So Mayo Street Arts and Portland Youth Dance will be there to share a hip hop dance that they're learning. We'll have a student or a group of students from Raikey, the LearningWorks after school program at Raikey, share their newly learned yoga moves. And then we'll have a group of girls to speak from a company of girls about what after school and what that program means to them. Well, it's such an enriching program to have for these kids. And I was reading some of the statistics here, and it's 15.1 million children go home to an empty home where there's nobody there, across the nation. That's mind boggling. And this, across the nation, they're doing these after school programs to give children a chance to thrive and not be alone. Some of those little kids must be scared to go home alone. Talk a little bit about what you know about that and how the program has made a difference in some of the children you've worked with. Right, so alternatives to not having an after school program or probably going home alone or to a house with an adult, but there might not be a lot happening at home. There might be the TV on or video games. And so our after school programs and the other learning works after school and other programs, we are providing a safe place, but also a place where students can thrive and learn about new things and practice new skills and try to spark some interest in something they may not have the opportunity to do. And the school doesn't have a chance to offer that during the day. There are so many things they have to get through on their schedule and so to offer some enrichment that otherwise might not have is wonderful. Before we go to, I wanna talk about something really special, you were recognized nationally. Could you tell us a little bit about that for this program? I just think it's wonderful. Sure, so I am an after school ambassador this year and an after school ambassador is, I'm one of 15 people across the country who is tasked to spread the word about after school and what it does for the community and families and to promote more opportunities to get funding for after school either locally or in the state government or the national government too. So I'll be talking to all of our senators and legislators and just getting the word out and sharing all of the good things that we do. I think it's wonderful and it's so important. Thank you so much for all that you do and we're very proud of you by being one of 15 across the country and coming from here gives me chills and thank you. Thanks.