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The Lexington Keeping Every Youth Safe (KEYS) after school program, lives up to that saying by actively improving the quality of life for Lexington youth. The KEYS program is housed at the 209 South Lake Drive and focuses on improving academic and life skills of its participants. The program meets Monday through Thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and regularly serves approximately 35 children from throughout the greater Lexington area.
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In early 2003, the West Lexington community, along with the Lexington Police Department and the Lexington Improvement League recognized the need to provide quality after school activities to youth who may be coming home from school alone or have limited supervision between the hours of 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. These groups, along with representatives of approximately fifteen other public and non-profit organizations came together to create the Lexington Latchkey Collaborative who were instrumental in the design of the program and hiring of the first staff.
During its first year of operation (2003-2004 school year), the KEYS Program served approximately fifty-five youth. Each youth received individual tutoring and mentoring, based on their needs provided by program staff and a cadre of volunteers from local churches and high schools. Additionally, Lexington Community Oriented Policing and School Resource Officers provide life skills training and the opportunity to positively react with law enforcement officials.
The results of this small community run, privately financed organization have been phenomenal. Teachers from schools where KEYS children attend classes have reported improvements in both reading and math scores. Additional successes have been reported in other classroom behaviors such as anger management, teamwork, sharing, and general health of the students.
"It is amazing the amount of good that you can do with limited resources," said Lexington Chief of Police Terrence Green. "If we are able to positively influence the behavior of one youth, then our efforts have been well worth it."
We need your help to continue this program. You can contribute by providing your tax free donations to the Lexington Police Department. For more information, please contact Chief Terrence Green at (803) 359-6260 or Ebony Bowers, K.E.Y.S. Site Coordinator at 358-1561.
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