Weekly Media Roundup: July 15, 2020

Hoops and Homework Centers in Framingham Reopen with ‘Super Duper Excited’ Students, Metrowest Daily News (Massachusetts)

When schools and programs closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Hoops and Homework afterschool program quickly pivoted to supporting students through virtual programming, including a book club hosted on Snapchat. This week, the free program in Framingham, Massachusetts reopened with extensive safety protocols including masks, symptom checks, reduced capacity and extra sanitation. The program aims to provide a safe way for students to connect with mentors, get academic support and participate in fun, enriching activities such as art projects. “I get help with my homework and the people around me are super-duper fun,” Crisaly Cupi, an eleven-year-old student, told Metrowest Daily.

Charlotte Organizations Aiming to Help Kids Stay Engaged Until They Head Back to School, WCNC-TV (North Carolina)

Lowe’s, the Collins Aerospace Center, and Digi-Tech are partnering with Freedom School Partners and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district to help students in Charlotte, North Carolina sharpen their science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) skills this summer. The organizations will distribute shoeboxes filled with materials for hands-on activities such as engineering projects, chemistry experiments, seed germination, and more with instructions in English and Spanish. The goal is “to pique their interest in some of these different topics that we're exploring and for them to say ‘oh, this is cool, I want to learn more about this,’" Sherry Sample with Digi-Bridge told WCNC-TV.

Engineering for Kids of King County" Teaches STEM Skills, KOMO-TV (Washington)

For seven years, Engineering for Kids of King County in Washington has helped students ages four to 14 explore careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) through afterschool and summer learning programs. During the coronavirus pandemic, the program has continued its mission through online classes, both real-time and prerecorded. Classes focus on coding, game design, engineering and more. “Minecraft engineering is very popular and that's a program where the students actually learn engineering concepts while they're playing Minecraft, so they learn about kinetic energy, potential energy and various engineering concepts like the engineering design process,” Noah Cordova of Engineering for Kids told KOMO-TV.

Thrive Lonsdale Offering In-Person and Virtual After School Programs this Year, WBIR-TV (Tennessee)

This fall, students in kindergarten through 12th grade will have multiple ways to access comprehensive, enriching afterschool programing from Thrive, a nonprofit organization in Knoxville, Tennessee. Thrive plans to offer an in-person program with safety protocols such as social distancing, temperature checks and masks. The program will help students with homework and offer dinner and the chance to participate in fun electives. Students can also join a virtual version of the program. “We have added a team, a virtual team and they meet with [students] outside of their home and visit them and drop off food and supplies,” Executive Director Clayton Wood told WBIR-TV. “They will be paired similarly in the fall in the virtual program.”