Weekly Media Roundup, January 8, 2020

Afterschool Program Launching Podcast Project with Internet Radio Station, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel (West Virginia)

This year, students in the Patch 21 afterschool program in Spencer, West Virginia are building a recording studio in a classroom, learning to use recording and sound editing technology, and developing their interview techniques as they launch an entirely student-run podcast. The students will interview community members about health and wellness topics including heart health, motivation and more. “We’re trying to train them for the workforce. They have to be interviewed and follow the job roles the same as an adult would,” Executive Director David McCutcheon, an Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance, told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. “Our goal is to give them purpose and to help them have something that has ownership for them and something they can utilize for their future to be productive and to go out into the world.”

LEAP Education Is Expanding Its After School Program to Lynn Schools, The Daily Item (Massachusetts)

Students at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn, Massachusetts will soon benefit from literacy programming, college and career exploration, social and emotional learning and mentorship, offered at a comprehensive new afterschool program facilitated by LEAP (Learn — Explore — Aspire — Pursue). LEAP is also starting an afterschool program at Marshall for English-language learners in which students will develop their English skills by completing a hands-on service project in the community. “This is a gap of resources LEAP can provide for us,” Marshall Principal Molly Cohen told the Daily Item. “It’s very exciting to just broaden the services we already had in place with additional funds that could offer things we couldn’t afford to offer.”

Urban Promise LA Takes Innovative Approach to Youth Leadership, Spectrum News 1 (California)

At A Place Called Home, an afterschool program in South Los Angeles, California, students are paired with adult mentors from the community who introduce them to new interests, teach them new skills, and help them prepare for life after high school. For professional drummer Ryan Schiedermayer and high schooler Paul Arnold, that’s meant touring college campuses together, as well as regular drum lessons. “I try to teach [drums] in a way that is not just learning your part, but how do you apply it in the context of a band, how you interact with the rest of the musicians,” Schiedermayer told Spectrum News 1. “Those types of skills that you learn socially in a band, to me, you can carry on throughout your life.”

Richmond Nonprofit Expands Into Albert Hill Middle School to Provide After-School Programs, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)

A new NextUp afterschool program at Albert Hill Middle School in Richmond, Virginia will include a forensic science club, cooking classes, outdoor adventures, comic book writing projects, dinner and more. With support from the city of Richmond and private donations, NextUp’s expansion to Albert Hill will mean every public middle school in Richmond will have afterschool programming this year. “When children are participating in high quality after-school experiences, they do better in school,” Barbara Sipe, NextUp’s president, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “We’re excited to bring that to Albert Hill.”