A.S.E.S.  After School Education and Safety

Program is the result of the 2002 voter approved initiative, Proposition 49. It is the intent of the legislation that elementary and middle school pupils participate in the full day of the after school program every day.

P.R.I.D.E.   Potential, Responsibility, Innovation, Determination, Excellence

P.R.I.D.E. is an after-school program collaborative which began in 2005. Many of our children come from families that speak languages other than English, thus limiting their ability to support their children academically. Multiple families live in small apartments or homes that do not provide adequate space for homework assistance. P.R.I.D.E.  not only supports homework completion, but offers academic intervention programs, and parent classes that teach skills so they know how to support their children’s education.The collaborative unites resources to serve the needs of our community more efficiently and effectively increasing services for the underserved, low-income, monolingual Vietnamese/ Spanish-speaking families. For many of these young people  P.R.I.D.E.  offers first time opportunities and experiences, such as after-school adult supervision, academic support, enrichment activities, sports,  and most importantly, an introduction to future education opportunities with college campus tours. The collaborative members include:

• Westminster School District
• Westminster Family Resource Center
• Westminster Police Department Domestic Violence Intervention Program
• City of Westminster’s Parks and Recreation Program
• Western Youth Services
• Westminster School District Extended School Program
• Abrazar, Inc.

Enrichment activities are life changing for some of our young people. P.R.I.D.E. offers many activities that they would never experience. By exposing our youth to fashion design, performing arts, guitar and art classes, technology, photography, ballet, dance, health and fitness, they are able to dream and explore future career possibilities, thus helping them identify their strengths, natural talents, gifts and interests. As a result of the P.R.I.D.E. collaborative, the Boys & Girls Club brought forth the Anaheim Angels Baseball organization who offers an outstanding RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program giving many of these students a first time team experience. This opportunity inspired many of our youth to believe they could play high school and college baseball, thus, motivating them to engage academically.

The P.R.I.D.E. collaboration has expanded the scope of services beyond the after-school programs to the social, health, employment and emergency services for the families. Some of these services include food distribution programs, transportation for medical appointments, affordable housing, dental services, financial literacy, computers and technology classes, ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, nutrition programs, sports skill clinics offered by local police department. This collaboration is supported by the local, county, state and national partners of the Westminster School District, the Boys & Girls Club of Westminster and Abrazar, Inc. Most recently, we have invited school principals, the Youth Director of Orange County Public Libraries, and key leaders from our Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking community to our collaborative meetings. By uniting our purpose to serve all youth and families within our city limits, we have developed a shared vision, a collaborative work ethic and sustained commitment to achieve common goals. This synergy has increased our capacity to take a holistic approach in serving our families.