Weekly Media Roundup: October 28, 2015

Lights On Afterschool Draws Students (Santa Cruz Sentinel, California)

More than 100 kids made smoothies using stationary bikes, enjoyed music and played in a bounce house at H.A. Hyde Elementary School’s Lights On Afterschool celebration in Watsonville last week. The event was one of several throughout Pajaro Valley Unified School District, which serves more than 3,000 low-income, often migrant students, in a variety of afterschool programs providing everything from homework help to sports lessons. “It’s more than just babysitting,” PVUSD Extended Learning Director Carol Ortiz told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “We really try to cover the academic piece and enrichment piece as well.”

School Stops, Learning Doesn’t (Coeur d’Alene Press, Idaho)

Students in the afterschool program at Fernan STEM Academy in Coeur d'Alene were treated to a “Screaming Balloons” science lesson as part of the school’s Lights On Afterschool event. Approximately 30 kids worked with staff to inflate balloons with hex-nuts inside them, then moved the balloons in a circular motion to make “screaming” noises. The project, which gave kids a fun and practical lesson in friction and Newton’s First Law of Motion, was just one example of the enrichment activities the afterschool program offers every day. “By bringing learning opportunities to them each day after school, we’re able to give them chances to learn that they might not have otherwise had,” program leader Caryn Zimmerman told the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Kids Enjoy Fun-Filled Afternoon with the HUB Club (Jackson Sun, Tennessee)

The HUB Club’s annual Fall Fest celebration, part of the national Lights On Afterschool, welcomed community members to the program to participate in mini-games, hay rides and a cake walk to raise awareness of the need for afterschool programming. “Hillcrest has been a high crime area for a while, but right now we’ve seen a decrease in all that,” director of community development Andrea Hudgins told the Jackson Sun. “National statistics show that from 3-6 p.m. is the average time period when crime rates among youth are highest – so as long as we can keep the doors open from 3-6 p.m., our kids get to come out here and play.”

Why Kids Love the Pineville Youth Center (Alexandria Town Talk, Louisiana)

Members of the Pineville Youth Center’s afterschool program love that their program provides them with homework help, healthy meals and lessons on everything from “English to life lessons.” Many of the center’s students shared their favorite aspects of the program with friends, family members and staff as part of a statewide Lights On Afterschool essay contest last week. “The difference will continue to be made in each of these kids’ lives for the rest of their lives,” Pineville mayor’s chief of staff Rich Dupree told the Alexandria Town Talk.