Highlights from Lights On Afterschool 2026

Lights On Afterschool 2026 was a huge success! Here are a few highlights we saw during celebrations this year:

Student artwork took center stage. Our collaboration with superstar and Lights On Afterschool honorary chair USHER continued for its third year. This year’s afterschool billboards, donated by Clear Channel Outdoor, were designed by a high school sophomore from Usher’s New Look afterschool program. The program gives youth real-world experience with industry experts. Our team and Clear Channel’s creative director relished our interaction with 15-year-old Evelyn Daniel, who said she learned time management skills while getting to practice her passion. Billboards are running across the nation this month. On October 22, Evelyn’s design took over two giant screens in Times Square. We were there with Evelyn to experience the moment—check out the video!

This year’s Lights On Afterschool poster was also student-designed. Sarah Ramirez of South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) created an art piece that features illuminated hands on a desk surrounded by art supplies, crafts, and a basketball, shining a light on the diverse range of activities students pursue in afterschool programs. Sarah’s design was featured on 50,000 Lights On Afterschool posters and appeared in programs in all 50 states!

STEM in the spotlight. Many events will showcase ways that programs help youth build durable skills and get excited about STEM learning, from experiments with static electricity and a portable planetarium to an open house focused on career exploration catered by the student Culinary Arts Team and featuring a fireside chat with program alumni, a tour of the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, and a showcase of the youth-run Farmer's Market. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the STEMarts Lab is hosting the statewide REIMAGINE SPACE: NEW MEXICO, connecting youth with scientists, artists, educators, cultural leaders, and international partners to explore new ways of thinking about space and humanity’s future.

Investing in youth mental health. With states deliberating how to invest their portion of the $17 billion Meta settlement, we are highlighting afterschool’s role in supporting young people’s mental health and well-being. As a founding partner of the Fund IRL coalition, the Afterschool Alliance has been working for more than two years to position youth development programs and mental health supports as the natural place to invest any awards from cases on social media harm. It was a victory to have afterschool and summer specifically listed in the settlement. However, states will decide how to use the funds. Learn more in our blog post about resources, as well as this update on the Meta settlement in the news, which are both housed on our Social Media Settlement Funds page.

As an action for Lights On Afterschool Day, more than 120 afterschool advocates signed our petition calling on states to invest the $17 billion Meta settlement in youth by directing funds to afterschool and summer programs, mental health services, and digital safety. States have a huge opportunity to invest in antidotes to social media harm that help protect youth and provide positive opportunities to connect, explore, and grow. Add your signature at 3to6.co/petition.

States support afterschool. Governors in 28 states and the Mayor of Washington, D.C., officially recognized Lights On Afterschool this year! Proclamations came in from Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

U.S. Representatives also spoke up with their support for afterschool. Rep. Davids of Kansas shared a message on Instagram, as did Alabama’s Rep. Aderholt.

Landmarks. Landmarks all across the country shined for Lights On Afterschool! Here’s a sample of what we saw:

• Alabama: Retirement Systems of Alabama buildings in Montgomery and Mobile
• Alaska: University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks
• Delaware: State Capitol Cupola in Dover
• Illinois: 6 Chicago skyline buildings, including: Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower; 875 N. Michigan Avenue; 540 W. Madison; One Prudential Plaza; Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower, the third tallest building in the Western Hemisphere!); and 1 N. Dearborn
• Massachusetts: Boston South Station
• Michigan: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building in Flint
• Mississippi: “The Rock,” University of Southern Mississippi’s Renasant stadium in Hattiesburg
• New Jersey: 4 Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission bridges: Lower Trenton; New Hope-Lambertville; Uhlerstown-Frenchtown; and Northampton Street
• New York: Two jumbo billboards in New York City’s Times Square
• Oklahoma: Scissortail Park in Oklahoma City
• Washington, D.C.: One Franklin Square, the tallest commercial building in the city

YOU. Afterschool programs and afterschool advocates celebrated at more than 8,000 programs across the country! We saw hundreds of photos of programs celebrating their students, their families, their programs, and the work they are doing every single day. Without you, there is no Lights On Afterschool – thank you so much for joining us in person and online to celebrate!