Weekly Media Roundup: April 24, 2019

Robotics: New Trend in High School Sports, ABC Good Morning America

More than 15,000 students from schools and afterschool programs around the world met in Houston last weekend to show off their robotics creations and compete for a national title. F.I.R.S.T., which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” sponsored the event. F.I.R.S.T. builds pathways to technology careers by creating opportunities for students to work together in teams to design, program and pilot robots. “I can play a game of football and it’s a lot of fun, or I can join a F.I.R.S.T. robotics team and impact people’s lives forever,” Josh Harmon, a student in the Project PASS afterschool program in Camdenton, Missouri, told ABC Good Morning America.

Unusual Suspects Theater Company Teaches Kids to Create Original Productions, Spectrum News 1 (California)

In the Unusual Suspects afterschool program in Watts, California, middle school students spend 20 weeks writing, designing and rehearsing an original theater production. The program aims to bring arts education to neighborhoods with high rates of poverty. It uses writing and performing to increase students’ confidence and help them process difficult life experiences. “Recently before I joined, my dad had passed, so I needed a coping way to like, make me feel better,” seventh-grader Cici Holloway told Spectrum News 1. “I think about my dad sometimes, but I can always go to acting if I start feeling sad.”

County Students Learn Financial Literacy, Franklin County Times (Alabama)

To celebrate Financial Literacy Month, a bank teamed up with afterschool programs in Alabama to teach elementary school students about responsible saving, spending and banking. Community Spirit Bank Vice President Emily Mays visited afterschool programs at each Franklin County elementary school to lead hands-on activities, including a shopping game that illustrates the importance of careful spending. Students also made their own piggy banks out of plastic bottles to take home. “Learning these fundamentals early in life can help to start a lifetime of responsible money habits,” Mays told the Franklin County Times.

Now in its 19th Year, JFK’s After School Program Gives Students a Chance to Have Fun and Relax, Daily Hampshire Gazette (Massachusetts)

Students in the JFK Middle School After School Program in Massachusetts can choose from ten different activities – all of which are intended to satisfy their curiosity and introduce them to new things. Projects include “Pure Arts,” in which students create items such as tie-dye shirts and stress balls from scrap materials, as well as baking, karaoke and Zumba. Certified teachers are available to help students with their homework as well. “It gives the kids a chance to see the adults in a different light, find that they have hobbies and interests that they like,” education support professional Nancy Adamoyurka told the Daily Hampshire Gazette. “We get to see kids in something other than an academic setting and establish relationships.”