Aspire Afterschool Learning

05/28/2026

Aspire helps students build confidence so they can thrive and be superheroes every day! Will you make a gift to keep kids learning and growing this summer? Visit www.aspireafterschool.org/donate/summer to give today.

05/27/2026

Tired of the long lines at Dulles and DCA? Wishing the DC area had a third airport (closer than Baltimore)? Wait no longer! Aspire students have created the plans for Duck Airport: the world's first airport that caters mainly to ducks. Human passengers allowed, but ducks are given priority.

05/22/2026

For Mother's Day, students recently had the opportunity to create beautiful, handmade gifts to give to their moms and the women in their lives! Henry Dunbar, on the Board of Phoenix Bikes, led a fun activity for students using old bike tires to craft earrings.

One student asked her teacher, "Take a picture of me and send it to my mom! She’ll never believe I made this!"

For Mother's Day, students had the opportunity to create beautiful, handmade gifts to give to their moms and the women in their lives!

05/21/2026

Huge thank you to Colin Beckner, a dedicated Eagle Scout committed to serving Aspire! Colin chose Aspire as his Eagle Scout service project after learning about Aspire's federal funding cuts last year. He collected almost 27,000 individual items for Aspire students, including notebooks, markers, games, and more. Wow!

Colin also led a fun activity for students where they created their own cards for writing notes to friends, teachers, and family.

05/13/2026

Aspire’s full-day, no-cost summer learning camp is a month away, and we need your support. Your donation will help 120+ students learn, create memories with their friends, and be ready to start the next school year off strong. Donate at aspireafterschool.org/donate/summer to make a difference today!

05/11/2026

At Aspire, we help students learn and make sure they're ready to succeed in school. But we also do so much more! From social-emotional lessons to providing a safe, trusted place to go after school, we're committed to making Aspire a place of joy, resiliency, and community.

05/08/2026

Use your voice to tell your officials why afterschool programs matter to you!

One timely way you can do this is by telling Congress to protect 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding, which was eliminated in the President's proposed budget. This funding supports nearly 10,000 local afterschool and summer programs serving 1.4 million children across the country - including Aspire.

Protect kids' access to these programs and opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive! 3to6.co/congress

Photo credit: David Choy

05/06/2026

The National AfterSchool Association (NAA) conference was in D.C. this year, and Aspire was on the stage! Our CEO, Paula Fynboh, gave a talk on the main stage to 1,500 afterschool leaders, advocates, and professionals about how to lead with values in challenging times.

Right now, 3 in 4 kids across the nation want to attend an afterschool program but either can't afford it, access it, or get to it. We know the need is great, and Aspire is proud to be a leader and a model for other organizations across the country seeing a growing need.

7 likes. "Paula Fynboh | NAA26 Story Showcase"

05/04/2026

The only thing better than reading a good book? Reading with friends!

04/30/2026

As wraps up, a huge thank you to all of the amazing volunteers who make Aspire's work possible! From helping in the classroom to picking up snacks to reading 1:1 with students, we couldn't do this without them.

If you want to join the Aspire community and give back, we have opportunities for summer volunteering, as well as opportunities to support our summer supply drive and food pantry on our website at https://www.aspireafterschool.org/volunteer/.