Alison Channon, Program Assistant

Monday evening, a group of children brought home dried bean mosaics. The week before that they brought home animals made from clay. And the week before that they brought home papier maché masks. All this artwork is courtesy of students in the afterschool art club my cousin teaches.

My cousin comes up with super creative projects – puppets, collages, sculptures, and lots of papier maché. The children’s work is colorful and charming and I can only imagine how much fun they have after school with Ms. Liz.

But not every child has access to a fun and educational afterschool program. Last week, the Afterschool Alliance, an organization that advocates for affordable, high-quality afterschool opportunities, released a report (pdf) showing that afterschool programs are struggling to meet community needs in a time of high unemployment and reduced economic security among many families.

This summer, women across the United States have been cheering for the fortieth anniversary of Title IX, the landmark law that opened the doors for women in sports and education. And now we’re joining women across the world to cheer women’s firsts at the 2012 London Olympics.

The London games mark the first Olympics where all 205 country delegations have sent a woman to the games – including Saudi Arabia, where women aren’t allowed to drive cars. Over 40 percent of the nearly 10,500 athletes competing are women. For the first time ever, Team USA is sending more women than men to the games.

And our biggest cheer of all, there is now no summer sport that is restricted to men. Boxing, the last of the summer games’ all male-sports and one of the most macho, has finally been opened to women!

Of course, there’s a caveat. As the New York Times reported, only 36 female boxers are competing in three weight classes at this summer’s games, compared to 250 male boxers in ten weight classes.