Weekly Media Roundup: July 15, 2026

Boys and Girls Club coming to Bluefield with free after-school program for middle schoolers, WVVA-TV (West Virginia)

When the new school year begins, 100 middle schoolers in the Bluefield, West Virginia area will gain access to a comprehensive afterschool program at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Bluefield’s new downtown location. “This is huge. We will be the fifth club in the state of West Virginia. The only one in the southern part currently. And it’s very much needed. Currently middle schoolers do not have anything to do after school and in the summer,” Kathryn Kandas, grants project manager for the City of Bluefield, told WVVA-TV. The new program will focus on life skills and career exploration, including exploring STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers through eSports.

Education Matters: Sanger Students Find Hands-On Fun with Expanded Learning, KSEE-TV (California)

At the Ag STEM summer program at Fairmont Elementary in Sanger, California, students are growing plants in a greenhouse, building a solar-powered water pump, flying drones, exploring their applications across industries, and more. With state funding, the summer program provides hands-on opportunities that introduce students to career and technical education pathways they can choose in high school. “The state made a significant investment in expanded learning, allocating over $5 billion to a vision around what learning can look like outside of the traditional school bell,” Josh Blecha, program coordinator with the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, told KSEE-TV. “We’re talking about opportunities for kids to learn about what type of person they want to be, opportunities to learn about potential careers they want, even opportunities to interact with the community in a different way.”

$10 Million Settlement Over Online Gaming Child Exploitation Will Fund Safety, After-School Efforts, South Dakota Searchlight (South Dakota)

This week, South Dakota reached a $10 million settlement in its online child safety case against Roblox, a popular gaming platform. The state plans to use the funds to support South Dakota’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the South Dakota Department of Education and governmental and nonprofit afterschool programs. “The afterschool program is exactly where this needs to go because that’s the time of the day when kids who are without frequent parental supervision are going home and then they have kind of free rein,” South Dakota Education Secretary Joe Graves told South Dakota Searchlight. “Afterschool programs really kind of address that.” The agreement also includes stronger online safety protections, expanded parental controls and greater law enforcement access to combat online exploitation.

School’s Out for Summer, but Homework Is Back at Tulsa Public Schools, Tulsa Flyer (Oklahoma)

Nearly 2,300 elementary and middle school students are participating in Tulsa Public Schools’ summer learning program, where they are strengthening their reading and math skills while taking art classes, completing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities and going on field trips. “We want kids to have a really positive experience and for it to foster love of learning, foster love of reading, and for them to return to school feeling more capable of engaging in grade-level material,” Kelly Kane, the district’s executive director of elementary & early childhood education, told the Tulsa Flyer. The program aims to reduce summer learning loss, prepare students for the upcoming school year and improve student attendance.