ANCRD Voices

The Georgetown After School Kids Program (A.S.K.), created in 1987, serves at-potential teens in the DC metropolitan area who are making positive strives in their lives and aiming to be catalysts for change in their communities. The ASK Program focuses on disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline by:

• utilizing a near-peer model, which pairs Georgetown University undergraduate students as tutors and mentors;
• provides exposure to the college experience;
• provides personalized, one-to-one academic tutoring, homework help, and standardized test preparation;
• promotes lifelong-learning and links among education, earning potential, and self-sufficiency, as well as the skills and behaviors needed to achieve such success;
• provides socio-emotional learning skills and activities; and
• supports social-justice education and the youth’s critical analysis of how they can contribute to a more just world.

Shanelle Roberson is the Director of the After School Kids Program and Assistant Director for Youth Justice Programs at the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service at Georgetown University.