ASAP/After School Activities Partnerships

ASAP/After School Activities Partnerships Keeping Philly youth safe and engaged after school through Chess, Debate, Drama, and Scrabble ♟️🗣️🎭🔠

Founded in 2002, ASAP is a leader in Philadelphia’s out-of-school time (OST) sector. Supported by strategic partnerships with city agencies, community organizations, and a broad network of stakeholders, ASAP has served more than 105,000 school-aged youth since inception, working with 100+ sites each year. We coordinate four citywide initiatives that engage thousands of Philadelphia youth (grades K

-12) each year in fun, enriching activities and experiences that develop critical academic, social, and emotional skills through structured programming and informal play:

ASAP Chess: Develops students’ problem-solving and strategical skills through weekly club meetings, workshops with expert players, and citywide competitions. In addition to coordinating individual clubs, ASAP runs the Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League. ASAP Chess is truly an incubator for the local chess community—as of Spring 2025, 18% of registered US Chess Federation players in Pennsylvania are youth in ASAP Chess! ASAP Debate: Builds critical reading, research, and public speaking skills through weekly club meetings,
analysis of topical issues, and citywide competitions. In addition to coordinating clubs, ASAP runs the Philadelphia Scholastic Debate League. Highlights from this past year include an ASAP Debate pair placing third, and three pairs placing in the semi-finals, in Public Forum Debate at the 2025 Pennsylvania High School Speech League championships. ASAP Drama: Nurtures young people’s powers of expression, teamwork skills and cultural knowledge
through weekly club meetings, group performances, and attendance at professional productions. ASAP Drama recruits Teaching Artists who mentor students and club leaders, while working as professional performing artists or theatre makers. ASAP Scrabble: Strengthens the essential building blocks of reading through weekly club play, literacy-building workshops, and citywide competitions. In addition to coordinating clubs, ASAP runs the Philadelphia Scholastic Scrabble League.

Math. Vocabulary building. Annoying your friends by playing "aa." The game of Scrabble has several benefits for players ...
06/01/2026

Math. Vocabulary building. Annoying your friends by playing "aa." The game of Scrabble has several benefits for players of all ages 😉

Over the past 20 years, people like you who support Philly youth have ensured that ASAP's Scrabble clubs and league bring belonging, increased confidence, and new friendships for thousands of kids across Philadelphia.

According to our 2025-2026 data so far:

⭐️ 69% of surveyed ASAP Scrabble students scored high in Grit
⭐️ 78% scored high in Self-Efficacy (how much students believe they can succeed in achieving academic outcomes)
⭐️ 74% scored high in Sense of Belonging

Scrabble is more than just a word game. Scrabble clubs and citywide events led by trained caring adults give children a safe environment to grow, challenge themselves, and learn what they're truly capable of.

Donate to give a child the gift of afterschool in 2026-2027: https://phillyasap.org/donate/

Your gift ensures more Philly kids have access to fun, high-quality after school & summer programs that spark a passion, boost career readiness, and provide a safe community. 🤩

05/28/2026

The ASAP Drama showcase at Carnell Elementary last week featured a play by two of Philly’s most promising young writers—fifth grader Zaira and a fellow club member.

“This was my first time writing a play,” Zaira says. Working with the club leaders and site director—all professional performers in Philadelphia—Zaira co-wrote “Middle School Disco,” a play about a girl named Sara who navigates friend groups at a new school.

The experience taught her that she can “can express my feelings and improve myself, and also act it, even when I am the author,” she says.

When asked if she plans to write more plays in the future, Zaira gives a resounding “YES.”

“This club made me feel like I belong anywhere I go, even when I write books, stories, or poems.” 💗

When you support ASAP, you’re helping Philadelphia students:

🎤 Find their voice (Club leader Caitlin: “I’ve been teaching them what’s a melody, how do we sing, what is singing? And I really think that came through with their song from Annie, them being able to sing and project out without being scared of being wrong because they know what they’re doing now.”

🤩 Gain confidence (“My favorite part of drama club this year is we get to act, and we get to play games that make us learn about acting and theatre, and we’re going to perform!”)

😊 Develop their passions (Club leader Caitlin: “If ASAP wasn’t here they wouldn’t have drama club. A lot of these kids throughout the months, they would come to us and be like, ‘Oh, I think this is what I want to do for my life!’ ”)

Help us raise $80,000 this spring to ensure more of our kids have access to fun, high-quality after school & summer programs that spark a passion, boost career readiness, and provide a safe community: https://phillyasap.org/donate/

When asked what ASAP’s Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League means to them, our chess students didn’t hesitate:• “It woul...
05/15/2026

When asked what ASAP’s Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League means to them, our chess students didn’t hesitate:

• “It would kill my drive for this club if I didn’t have the league.”

• “I wouldn’t be playing chess.”

• “My ambition would have died.”

A highlight of the ASAP Chess program, the league has eight tournaments annually for youth in grades K-12. By supporting the league, your gift helps hundreds of Philly public and charter students to:

💖 Build community with likeminded peers from across the city (“Through ASAP, I’ve also formed a lot of connections and met a lot of people I get along with. It’s also helped me a lot as these people have also supported me.”)

⚡ Explore their passions and discover what they’re capable of (“Everyone here wants to get better. Everyone here cares deeply about the game, spends a lot of time outside of club hours just playing on their own, researching, watching YouTube videos, reading whole books.”)

🌱 Cultivate a growth mindset (“The huge change from freshman year to now, it’s like a complete 180. We’re confident that we can play top ten individually, for at least three of our players, in the league. And that was a big change compared to freshman year where I’m not confident that we would have gotten top 15.”)

💪 Develop as leaders (“The exposure to the league and a whole different kind of league, that was the year where I was put more as the captain role and was able to more take charge with a little more ambition to this team.”)

When you support ASAP, you’re supporting the positive development, friendships, and JOY of hundreds of our Scholastic league players—and thousands more ASAP students throughout Philadelphia! Help us raise $80,000 this spring to ensure more of our kids have access to fun, high-quality after school & summer programs that spark a passion, boost career readiness, and provide a safe community.

Donate today: https://phillyasap.org/donate/

Enrollment is open for ASAP Summer Speech Academy! Open to all Philadelphia students in grades 3-12, Speech Academy is a...
05/13/2026

Enrollment is open for ASAP Summer Speech Academy!

Open to all Philadelphia students in grades 3-12, Speech Academy is a free, week-long camp where students learn how to advocate for the issues that matter to them. Students learn how to research, write, and deliver an original persuasive speech, and compete in a culminating speech tournament.

The camp will run July 20 - 24 from 9 AM to 2 PM at George Washington Carver High School. Breakfast and lunch are included 🧇🍎 SEPTA cards are also available if needed.

Aftercamp (also free!) is optional and will be from 2 - 5 PM. Activities include Drama, art, and Scrabble 🎭🎨🔠

Thank you to Cooke & Bieler for making Summer Speech Academy possible ❤️

To register, visit bit.ly/speechacademy26. For more information, email [email protected] ☀️

SEPTA provides free fare for Philly public school students—but the passes can only be used during the school year, on sc...
05/12/2026

SEPTA provides free fare for Philly public school students—but the passes can only be used during the school year, on school days between 5:30 am and 8 pm, and if the student lives 1.5 miles or more from their school. This limits the ability of 30,000+ students across the city to participate in internships, jobs, and afterschool activities. At ASAP, we spend hundreds of dollars on SEPTA passes each year (and thousands on bussing!) to ensure students can attend our events for free, but not all organizations are able to provide this support.

Recognizing the connection between transportation access and student opportunity, ASAP is proud to support Transit Forward Philly, an organization working with community and City Council members to implement free universal fares for all Philadelphia public school students. As supporter Councilmember Rue Landau has said, universal fares would mean "the ability to take advantage of all that our city has to offer. It means that kids can grow up here in Philadelphia with everything they need to thrive." ❤️

We are very proud to announce that our very own Bradley Crable, ASAP Director of Chess & Scrabble, was a finalist for th...
05/11/2026

We are very proud to announce that our very own Bradley Crable, ASAP Director of Chess & Scrabble, was a finalist for the Andy Lerner Award for Excellence in Chess Education this past week in New York City!

Made possible by Andy Lerner and Chess in the Schools, this national award recognizes exceptional work in chess education by chess teachers serving public schools non-commercial youth chess clubs.

Brad (or as some of us call him, Brad Lichess 😊) is the longest-working and most active chess tournament director in Philadelphia, having directed almost 400 tournaments for youth since 2003! Back when he was an ASAP consultant, Brad successfully advocated for our Philadelphia Scholastic Chess League to be US Chess Federation-rated, raising the standard of play and introducing thousands of kids to real-world chess competition 💪 In 2017 Brad co-founded the Philadelphia Chess Society with Jason Bui and Melanie Brennan to bring ASAP Chess students to states, before ASAP was able to do so. Brad has run ASAP Chess since 2022, increasing student participation from 1,122 to 1,915 youth in just two years.

Please join us in congratulating Brad on this momentous achievement! We are so grateful to have such a dedicated community builder and teacher at ASAP 💗

90% of ASAP Debate high schoolers who joined in middle school scored high in grit/resilience, according to our 2024-2025...
04/27/2026

90% of ASAP Debate high schoolers who joined in middle school scored high in grit/resilience, according to our 2024-2025 year-end survey. And 100% scored high in empathy and perspective-taking 😎

Rose, an ASAP Debate senior who started in sixth grade, credits her start in middle school with becoming a co-captain her sophomore year. As co-captain she helps onboard new students, shape team culture, and ensure her peers are confident and ready to compete. This year, as part of ASAP’s Debate Mentors program, Rose got paid to co-lead newer debate clubs for 8-10 weeks, building leadership and career skills!

“Through my roles as an ASAP Debate Mentor and as a captain of my team, I’ve worked a lot with students, teaching them new skills, working through problems we have, celebrating wins," Rose says. "All of those things have really developed in me an understanding about what it means to be a leader. It’s not just speaking. It’s so much more about being involved in the learning process and making sure everybody understands, everybody’s following along."

At Nebinger Middle School, ASAP Debate eighth graders are already stepping up to mentor and train younger students.

“It’s been really wonderful to see them take on that role and shepherd the sixth and seventh graders to tournaments, walk them through how it works and how to prepare their best case,” Erin Sweeney, Nebinger’s ASAP Debate coach, says.

4 in 5 PA middle schoolers lack access to afterschool programs! That’s why ASAP invests heavily in middle school, like our debate program that starts in fourth grade 💪 Together, we can make sure that every Philadelphia middle schooler has access to a safe afterschool space, a mentor, a healthy friend group, and activities that inspire lifelong passions.

Read more about how middle school debate prepares kids for high school: http://phillyasap.org/preparing-philly-students-for-high-school-with-asap-debate/

🎭 🔠 🗣️

When you make a gift to ASAP, you’re helping almost 3,000 students—including 250+ middle school debaters—reach their potential in high school and beyond. Help us raise $80,000 to ensure students like Rose have access to fun, high-quality after school & summer programs. Donate today: https://phillyasap.org/donate/

ICYMI: There is no inherent skill gap between girl and boy chess players 💖💖💖A 2025 study suggests that representation (o...
04/17/2026

ICYMI: There is no inherent skill gap between girl and boy chess players 💖💖💖

A 2025 study suggests that representation (or lack thereof) was the only cause for overall rating disparities between girl and boy players in the US Chess Federation—the more girl chess players a local chess community has, the higher their ratings! Additional studies show that girl players are often expected to perform worse than their boy peers, and end up leaving chess as a result 👎

Through our Philly Girls Play Chess initiative, ASAP aims to build community among our girl and non-binary chess players and encourage them to stick with this game that imparts critical thinking, focus, and joy :) Our 18th annual PGPC tournament this week had 76 players from Philly public and charter schools, and we hope to have even more next year!

In addition to five rounds of chess, the tournament also provided an opportunity to recognize Academy at Palumbo freshman Nina Y., who was awarded Female Player of the Year for her improvement and dedication throughout the year, achieving a very high score in our Scholastic Chess league (and at other events), demonstrating leadership qualities at her ASAP club, and spreading her passion for chess to others! Let's go Nina 💪

Thank you to the S. Albert Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation for their support of Philly Girls Play Chess 👑♟️ Email ASAP Chess Coordinator Angelo at [email protected] for details on our free PGPC camp!

152 ASAP Chess kids from 20 schools participated in the 19th annual PECO-ASAP Checkmate Violence Chess Marathon this Sat...
01/30/2026

152 ASAP Chess kids from 20 schools participated in the 19th annual PECO-ASAP Checkmate Violence Chess Marathon this Saturday!

Besides *five* rounds of chess matches, the jam-packed day included:

⭐ Remarks by PECO and Councilman Anthony Phillips
⭐ A STEM career fair feat. Black Girls Love Math, Brooklyn Robot Foundry PHL, SJU Physics Wonder Girls, Stacey Woodson The Earth-Centered Dietitian, Launchpad Philly, the Science History Institute, South PHL Code Ninjas, Exelon STEM Prep Academy, Women in Natural Sciences, and PECO
⭐ Raffle prizes for players who visited every STEM fair booth
⭐ 1:1 game analysis with Chess Expert Larry Pugh
⭐ A lifetime achievement award for Mr. Gil Motley, ASAP Chess coach and lifelong youth chess advocate (CV was his idea!)

Thank you to all of our club leaders, parents, and volunteers for a wonderful event! And of course, thank you to PECO, whose support has made this event possible for the past 19 years ❤️

🔗 Read more about the event here: https://www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia/2026/01/27/philadelphia-chess-tournament-aims-to-prevent-youth-gun-violence/

Only 10% of Pennsylvania children who want to be in afterschool are enrolled in a program, according to the America Afte...
12/29/2025

Only 10% of Pennsylvania children who want to be in afterschool are enrolled in a program, according to the America After 3PM 2025 report—lower than the national average.

Dianne, mother of ASAP Chess 9th grader Demetrio, struggled to find an afterschool program for her son that was safe and structured but would also fuel his interests and challenge him to learn and grow. And then she found ASAP 😊

“In Philadelphia, there’s a lot of things going on in the streets that we might not want our kids to be exposed to,” Dianne says. “Places like ASAP, this tournament—we can look around the kids hanging out on their own and the parents are sitting on their own and interacting with each other. They don’t need to hover over their children because they know this is a safe place for their children.”

Currently in the ASAP Chess club at his high school, Demetrio credits his two years with his middle school team for helping him take school more seriously and apply himself in new ways.

“It has helped me a lot with academics, surprisingly,” he says, adding that “before I played chess, I wasn’t the best student.” Through hours of chess instruction and playing with peers, he “learned to plan ahead” and to “think in different ways from someone’s else’s perspective.” Now, he’s considering a career in law!

But the most impactful part of being in ASAP Chess for Demetrio—and his family—has been the strong, tight-knit community. So much so that when the family considered moving outside of Philly, they decided to stay in the city so Demetrio could stay in his ASAP Chess club!

Read more about Demetrio's journey with ASAP Chess here: https://phillyasap.org/the-citywide-community-of-asap-chess/

🎭 🔠 🗣️ ♟️

When you make a gift to ASAP, you’re supporting the growth of a child for years to come 🤩 Help us raise $60,000 to ensure kids like Demetrio have access to fun, high-quality afterschool & summer programs that spark a passion, build confidence, and provide a safe community for kids across Philadelphia. 👉 Donate here: https://phillyasap.org/donate/ (check out all the ways you can give!).

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