NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Metro school officials announced on Wednesday they will be able to expand its after school program due to a nearly $800,000 grant from the Wallace Foundation.
The grant will ensure that an additional 750 students will be served through the Nashville After Zone Alliance program, which currently serves the Maplewood, Stratford, Overton and Glencliff clusters.
"What's going to happen thanks to the Wallace grant is we are going to be able to move into three more zones more quickly then we would have been able to on our own," NAZA director Candy Markman said.
Despite the after school program only being two years old, directors told Nashville's News 2 it is making a difference in the lives of students.
"Since NAZA has come it's helped to reduce the traffic of kids just hanging outside and not being actively engaged in anything," Director Rico X said.
Nashville student Lemuel Robertson told Nashville's News 2 he enjoys attending the program that provides him with a quiet place to study each day.
"Coming here is a great experience; you have fellowship, friends [and] Internet access. It's really great," he said.
With the grant money, the program hopes to expand into the Whites Creek and Pearl Cohn clusters this fall and Cane Ridge and Antioch by next year.
For more information on NAZA, visit their Web site.
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