November 4, 2020
Katie Jacob, Director of Communications
Prime Time Palm Beach County
(561) 732-8066
kjacob@primetimepbc.org
Boynton Beach, Florida – Prime Time Palm Beach County, Inc. is pleased to announce it has been awarded three grants totaling $7.28 million from the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County. Prime Time will use these funds to provide trainings, coaching and supports to out-of-school time programs and practitioners and offer fun and engaging learning opportunities to children and youth through partnerships with local content experts such as the Palm Beach Zoo and Center for Creative Education. Prime Time will continue to deliver Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) experiences by increasing skills in the delivery of informal science to afterschool staff, so they have the tools they need to help under-represented youth receive exposure to a world of possibilities.
With support from the Children’s Services Council, Prime Time is offering afterschool programs in Palm Beach County access to local expert content providers, covering school-day academic learning, exploring technology, caring for the whole child, discovering arts and culture and leadership and career pathways that will allow for children and youth to engage in hands-on learning that they otherwise may not be able to access. In addition, Prime Time’s trainings, now being offered virtually, ensure that local afterschool professionals have the skills and resources necessary to provide rich youth development activities in the critical hours after school.
“Due to the multiple pandemics facing our community, we needed to find ways to preserve the field and to support our practitioners who were facing pervasive issues such as financial insecurity, isolation from peers and youth, a need for continued skill-building and a focus on well-being and mental health. The team pivoted quickly to address these needs and in fact, reached a record number of practitioners,” says Katherine Gopie, Director of Professional Development, Prime Time Palm Beach County.
In addition to the significant funding Prime Time receives from the Children’s Services Council, it also receives support from the Palm Beach County Youth Services Department for Prime Time’s Middle School Out-of-school Time Initiative, and The Wallace Foundation for the Partnerships for Social Emotional Learning Initiative.
About Prime Time Palm Beach County
The mission of Prime Time Palm Beach County, Inc. is to help children and youth succeed by strengthening and expanding quality in the out-of-school time field. Prime Time offers support to OST programs through coaching and assessment for continuous quality improvement, as well as program enrichment through its expanded learning providers. For the individual practitioners, Prime Time offers career advising, training, scholarships and financial incentives to increase the quality of out-of-school time programs in Palm Beach County. www.primetimepbc.org
About the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County
Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, a special district created by Palm Beach County voters, provides leadership, funding and research on behalf of the county’s children so they grow up healthy, safe and strong. www.cscpbc.org www.everyparentpbc.org
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