Richland One Administrator Named National Afterschool Ambassador
 Dr. Traci Young Cooper, director of Richland One’s Office of Extended-Day Programs, has been named a 2007-2008 Afterschool Ambassador by the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization.
Young Cooper is one of only 22 local leaders from 19 states selected for the honor. Each ambassador will continue directing or supporting a local after-school program while also serving a one-year Afterschool Ambassador term organizing public events, communicating with policymakers and building support for after-school programs.
"After-school programs keep children safe, inspire them to learn and help working families," said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant.
"In her work as an Afterschool Ambassador, Traci Young Cooper will bring talent and experience to the challenge of making after-school programs available to all families that need them," Grant said. "I look forward to working with her to share the good news about after-school with parents, business and community leaders, lawmakers and the media. We are proud to have Traci on our team."
Each Afterschool Ambassador planned a major event for Lights On Afterschool, the Afterschool Alliance’s October 18 nationwide rally for after-school programs.
Young Cooper oversees Richland One’s comprehensive remediation programs, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, athletic tutorial programs, PROJECT ACT (a youth obesity prevention program), John and James Knight Foundation arts-infused programs and after-school child care extended-day programs. In 2002, she was named South Carolina’s Teacher of the Year and represented the Palmetto State in the National Teacher of the Year competition. She served two terms as a member of the John and James Knight Foundation Community Advisory Board, a task force convened to support and develop inner-city after-school programs for middle-school students.
After-school programs offer young people safe, enriching, fun and engaging places to spend their afternoons. Youth in after-school programs have been shown to perform better in school and have greater expectations for the future, while children who are unsupervised in the afternoons are at greater risk of becoming involved with crime, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
For more information about Richland One’s after-school and extended-day programs, contact Dr. Traci Young Cooper at 231-6842. |