Weekly Media Roundup: December 18, 2019

The Story Behind an Unusual After-School Program in Framingham’s Poorest Neighborhood, The Boston Globe (Massachusetts)

At the Hoops and Homework afterschool program in Framingham, Massachusetts, students ages five to 14 get help with homework, eat healthy snacks, and participate in activities including yoga, instrumental music, art and more. Immigrant students work one-on-one with the program’s teachers, most of whom are bilingual, to develop their English skills. A former math teacher created Hoops and Homework to respond to a wide range of community needs, including hunger and the program often sends students home with bags of food for the weekend. “We have some who come in and give me a big hug on Monday and they say, ‘I missed you over the weekend. I was so hungry,’” program supervisor Jayne Acevedo told the Boston Globe.

Lubbock Dunbar Students Create Own Websites During Early Code After-School Program, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Texas)

Middle school students in the Early Code afterschool program in Lubbock, Texas spent last semester coding websites focused on a wide range of topics, including graffiti art, Pokémon cards, Korean pop music, and original business ideas. The program aims to expose students to careers and develop their coding skills. Tashiana Humphery told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal the program helped her develop a website that would connect people in need with community resources, saying, “I want to start little, like helping the community I’m in now. Then I want to go nationwide with it, then it’ll spread on to other nations.”

A Heartwarming Bond Between Kids and Nursing Home Seniors is Brightening the Holidays, My Champlain Valley (Vermont)

Each Thursday for the past several months, children in the J.J. Flynn Elementary School afterschool program in Burlington, Vermont have visited residents at the nursing home next door, whom the students call ‘grandpals.’ Spearheaded by two medical students, the partnership aims to enrich the lives of both the students and the seniors as they work on art projects and learn together. A student named Dakyya told My Champlain Valley that on Christmas day she is “going to come [to the nursing home] with my mom and my two brothers. We’re going to see [my grandpal] Hellen. She said she has no family, so we’re going to get her a present.”

How Flint's CEO Disc Jockey is Inspiring the Next Generation of Musicians, Second Wave Michigan (Michigan)

Gabrielle Davis was only 20 years old when she created the Dream League Flint Music Mentoring Program in 2014. Today, the nonprofit partners with the YMCA, and the Boy & Girls Club of Greater Flint, local schools and others to provide afterschool and summer programs to youth who might not otherwise have access to music education. The programs combine music instruction, academic support and mentorship to build students’ confidence. “Seeing [students] frustrated or saying they can’t do it, but just encouraging them to keep trying is rewarding,” Davis told Second Wave Michigan. “When the kids do it, we celebrate those victories. Their whole perspective gets changed just by trying.”