Weekly Media Roundup: February 12, 2020

Trump Budget Would Again Ax Afterschool Programs Despite Strong Congressional Support, Youth Today

The White House again asked Congress to defund 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) – the chief federal funding stream for afterschool and summer learning programs –in its FY2021 budget proposal. Rather than defunding it, Congress provided $1.25 billion for 21st CCLC in FY2020. “Afterschool programs improve educational outcomes, provide safe places for young people, and help working families make ends meet,” Rep. Nita Lowey (NY) said in response to the proposal. Researchers quickly spoke out to emphasize the value of afterschool programs and advocates vowed to preserve 21st CCLC funding again this year.

After-School Program Brings Ocean to Students in Edinburg, Northern Virginia Daily, (Edinburg, Virginia)

Students at the Spring Forward afterschool program in Edinburg, Virginia dissected dogfish sharks and learned about whales when J. Michael Williamson, director of WhaleNet, visited. WhaleNet is a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education resource that focuses on marine mammals, environmental science, ocean literacy and more. Pastor Katie Gosswein of the Zion Lutheran Church, which runs the program with the Hamburg Ruritan Club, invited Williamson. “We see the needs of the community and how families are needing extra support for the education and the safety of their kids,” Gosswein said. Another guest speaker recently educated students about the genetics of apples.

AccelerateKID's After-School Program Introduces Kids to Tech and Entrepreneurship, Detroit Driven (Detroit, Michigan)

Founded in 2013 as Kidpreneur, AccelerateKID is working to prepare students to become the next generation of innovators by teaching technology and entrepreneurship skills. Coding, robotics, digital arts, and game design are the focus as instructors provide STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education through hands-on experiences and real-world applications. “This is about exposing kids to opportunity,” instructor Q. Thang Do said. “If you don’t know about technology, then you’ll never know about the opportunities that are out there … It’s very purposeful, doing the offline portion of the course before going online. We don’t want them addicted to the virtual world. This is all about the real world.”

Scuola Vita Nuova Students Collaborate for Design Thinking Project, Northeast News (Missouri)

Sixth graders working with the Latinx Education Collaborative in Kansas City, Missouri used a “Shark Tank”-style design thinking competition to brainstorm solutions to problems in the educational system. One group in the competition considered whether students become anti-social if they have no afterschool programs. This group noted that kids need to be healthy, social and active, and that afterschool programs need more adult volunteers. “I hope [the students] leave knowing that their voices are incredibly important, their voice matters, and when they come together as a community, they can actually solve some issues and demand some change,” Collaborative founder Edgar Palacios founder said.