Weekly Media Roundup - February 6, 2013

Lacey teen Terrence Krall credits the afterschool program at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County with helping him turn his life around. He told The Olympian that the program made him a better athlete, a “great leader,” better public speaker and a hard worker. Krall was named the Club’s “Youth of the Year” and will vie for the Washington Youth of the Year title in March.  

 

CEO and President of the YMCA of Central Florida Jim Ferber wrote a column for the Orlando Sentinel calling on the community to invest in youth. He writes: “Studies by child-development experts, sociologists and law-enforcement groups affirm what we at the YMCA of Central Florida have long known — simply that unsupervised time leads to trouble for children and teens. It's why our focus on youth development is at the heart of how we serve local families, and our community. One of our strongest, longest allies in this effort has been Orange County Public Schools, which partners with us to provide after-school programs that annually serve thousands of students attending 44 county elementary and middle-school locations… These centers provide a nurturing, caring environment that give kids a sense of belonging, as well as the vital skills and resources they need to grow up and become the healthy, compassionate adults of tomorrow.”

 

The Harvest Youth Club (HYC) is building a community storm shelter so that the next time a dangerous storm threatens North Alabama the afterschool program won't have to shut out its students, AL.com reports. In the past, when tornados or other dangerous storms were in the area, the afterschool program had to send students home because the program did not have safe shelter. HYC is partnering with the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church and the Harvest Meadows community to build the shelter. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is expected to take place in March.

 

Afterschool students at Piner Middle School in Sherman are prepping for a 5K run thanks to a $1,000 grant to help fight childhood obesity. The Healthy Choices Go Out For A Run program trains students for the 5K run two days a week and educates students on making healthy food choices another two days a week. “The funds from this grant will allow us to provide students healthy snacks to support the students on the days they are actually running,” Alicia Thurston, ACES site manager at Piner, told the Herald Democrat. “During the food lessons, students will be researching ways to make some of their favorite snacks and desserts healthier by substituting some ingredients.”