Weekly Media Roundup: January 8, 2025

Parks and Recreation Secures Grant to Bring Physical Activity Education to Youth in Afterschool Program, WBIW (Indiana)

More than 50 students in the Banneker Afterschool program in Bloomington, Indiana are taking part in fun physical activities this year led by Indiana University School of Public Health students. The new “Let’s Move!” program is a partnership between the Indiana Department of Health, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Parks and Recreation. “Data from the CDC is clear when it comes to links between negative health outcomes and limited access to age-appropriate sports, health and wellness programming, and safe transportation,” Shelby Drake, Parks and Recreation’s health and wellness coordinator, told WBIW. “Safe access to youth exercise programs may not be available to students due to cost, distance or other barriers. Let’s Move! encourages children to engage in physical activity and helps develop skills needed to be active at home.”

Berkshire Pulse Finds New Home, The Daily Gazette (Massachusetts)

Berkshire Pulse has provided performing arts classes and afterschool programs in Housatonic, Massachusetts for the past 30 years. Thanks to the generous support of the community, it will be moving its educational center into a larger facility. “Berkshire Pulse was founded with the core belief that dance and the creative arts can profoundly enrich peoples’ lives—and that everyone should have direct access to the arts, regardless of their age, abilities, or life circumstances," Founder and Artistic Director of Berkshire Pulse Bettina Montano told The Daily Gazette. Berkshire Pulse also provides afterschool programming in several local schools and at the Berkshire Boys & Girls Club.

How You Can Empower Girls Through After School Program, KELO TV (South Dakota)

As Girls on the Run programs gear up for a new school semester across the country, programs in Sioux Falls, South Dakota are encouraging community members to volunteer as coaches. “We teach girls skills that focus on social, emotional and physical health, but then we incorporate that all with running activities so that the girls are able to focus on having fun as well as building those connections,” Program Manager Jasmina Miller told KELO TV. Coach Lesya Shkinder emphasizes that the afterschool program benefits coaches as well. “It is not only empowering the girls, it empowers you too, and you just feel so much better because you make a difference in their lives,” Shkinder said.

She Played at the Nats’ Youth Academy. Now She Eyes a Career in Sports, The Washington Post (District of Columbia)

Since 2014, the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy has provided engaging afterschool and summer programs for students in underserved communities, focused on baseball, character development, and healthy lifestyles. Major League Baseball recently recognized the program with the 2024 Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence. Janyia Freeman, a freshman studying business administration at Clark Atlanta University, credits the program with sparking her passion for sports management. “I want children from all different backgrounds, backgrounds like mine, to be able to have the same opportunities I did and more,” Freeman told the Washington Post. “Being at the academy kind of forced me out of my shell.”