Weekly Media Roundup: August 11, 2021

NYC Schools Are Getting 200 New Murals. At this Bronx Campus, Painting Provides Connections After COVID’s Isolation., Chalkbeat

Thanks to grants from New York City’s Artist Corps, nearly 400 teaching artists have visited free summer learning programs across the city to help students reconnect and express themselves after a difficult year. At the Theatre Arts Production Company School’s summer program in the Bronx, students are collaborating on a 10-foot-wide mural with artist Tova Snyder, sharpening their artistic skills and practicing teamwork in the process. “We’ve tried to emphasize working together and communication because they’re used to being at home,” Snyder told Chalkbeat. “It’s also to get up and get physical.”

Boys & Girls Club of Abbeville Equips, Encourages Children to Seize their Potential, Alabama NewsCenter (Alabama)

In the Boys & Girls Club of Abbeville’s afterschool and summer programs, about 150 students in Abbeville, Alabama get help with schoolwork, explore new interests such as yoga, photography, and sewing, practice leadership skills, participate in character education, and more. The Club was recently awarded a grant from the Alabama Power Foundation to update its technology to keep students connected during the pandemic. “If they didn’t have the Club and all it gives them – the access to computers and internet they have to have now for school, the tutoring help, the other learning and growth opportunities, the friendships and the overall support – I don’t know what they would do. It really is essential for a lot of these kids,” Executive Director Neandra Turner told the Alabama NewsCenter.

'Strong, Smart and Bold': Madison Afterschool Program Seeks to Empower Girls, Wisconsin State Journal (Wisconsin)

After a year of virtual programming, Girls Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin is eager to return to in-person afterschool programs this fall. The national organization provides programming “that is just inspiring and empowering and… in a space that is girl only and girl focused,” Leslie Smith, coordinator of Girls Inc. of Greater Madison programs, told the Wisconsin State Journal. “The point of the program is to really let girls know they can be the person they want to be and they don’t have to be defined by those (societal) made up rules.” Girls Inc. held multiple mini pop-up sessions at local elementary schools this summer to promote the fall programs for elementary through high school students.

Tulsa Public Schools Offering Before And After School Program Through Lottery System, KOTV News on 6 (Oklahoma) 

Due to high demand, the Tulsa Public Schools held a lottery for its free afterschool programs. They also increased the number of elementary school sites from 15 to 36 and added additional slots per site. "We committed to making this program free and leveraging some of our stimulus dollars to do so," Deputy Superintendent Paula Shannon told News On 6. A major challenge is finding additional staff and the school district hopes to recruit new employees at an upcoming career fair.