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Weekly Media Roundup: July 18, 2018

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Weekly Media Roundup: July 18, 2018

Program connects young minds with learning at Boys & Girls Club (Lowell Sun, Massachusetts)

At a STEAM makerspace in Billerica, Mass., hands-on experiences with cutting-edge technology stimulate students’ love of learning. Created by the local Boys & Girls Club and supported by corporate technology donations, the STEAM Center gets its name from a popular acronym for curricula that combine science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Students discover these subjects by building everything from self-sustaining aquariums to analog analyzers. “It’s almost like they’re learning things, without knowing they’re learning,” program teacher Bobby Ackroyd told the Lowell Sun. “If a kid is doing something and then gaining an experience, then they’ll remember the scientific [principles] behind it.”

Grassroots program helps low-income, high-achieving Delaware students blossom (WHYY, Delaware)

In Wilmington, Del., a middle school teacher created an afterschool program to help his low-income, high-achieving students access top-quality high schools. Leading Youth through Empowerment, or LYTE, now aids 95 students across Wilmington schools with guidance on everything from preparing to take entrance exams to filling out financial aid forms. Ankur Arya was inspired to create the program because securing a scholarship to a top-tier high school made a big difference in his own life. The pathways to high school turn into pathways to college: A recent ceremony attended by Wilmington’s mayor celebrated the nearly $1 million in college scholarships and aid the program’s first high school graduates have qualified for. “We are so proud of those students,’’ Arya told WHYY.

At harbor island camp, teens train to be civic leaders (Boston Globe, Massachusetts)

In Boston, nearly 100 teens are spending their summers learning how to create change in their communities. Camp Harbor View added a civics course for its high schoolers who are training to mentor the camp’s 900 younger students. Students benefit from open discussion of social issues that affect their lives, including racism, classism, gun violence, and housing. Mayor Martin Walsh recently visited and led a discussion. “I know that how I was raised, and how a lot of these kids around camp are raised, they’re meant for greater things, and they’re meant for these types of movements,” 15-year-old trainee Laisha Pichardo told The Boston Globe.

Enabling young leaders: Waco's Freedom School grows, shows progress (Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas)

When Waco Mayor Kyle Deaver read a book about desegregation to more than 50 students attending Baylor’s Freedom School, he joined a national summer learning effort that emphasizes the connection between literacy and civic engagement. An initiative of the Children’s Defense Fund, summer “Freedom Schools” serve 160,000 students nationwide. By emphasizing culturally relevant literature and civic education, the programs aim to combat summer learning loss and inspire student confidence. It pays off: last year 97 percent of Baylor Freedom School students maintained or increased their reading abilities. Freedom School Executive Director Lakia Scott told The Waco Tribune she hopes students see “they’re not just children but they are change agents because of how smart they are and how much power they hold within themselves.”

Weekly Media Roundup: January 31, 2024

Advocates of Afterschool Opportunities Rally in Albany for $119M Funding Boost, Spectrum News 1 (New York) On Tuesday, afterschool leaders, students, and lawmakers gathered in Albany, New York to press for an additional $119 million in state funding to ensure universal access to afterschool. At...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/31/24

Weekly Media Roundup: January 24, 2024

'Articulate Their Pain': Preventing Teen Suicide Through the Power of Music, Spectrum News 1 (North Carolina) DDAAT-App, a mental health nonprofit with an afterschool program in Charlotte, North Carolina, is partnering with The Bridge, a music studio, to give students access to recording...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/24/24

Weekly Media Roundup: January 17, 2024

Bessie Coleman After School Aviation Program to be Tested in Oklahoma, General Aviation News (Oklahoma) Sixth and 7th graders in Tulsa, Oklahoma are exploring careers in aerospace and aeronautics by building planes, flying drones, and participating in other hands-on projects thanks to a...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/17/24

Weekly Media Roundup: January 10, 2024

Glendale Middle School Coach Who Inspires All Gifted With Dream Team Surprise, Fox 13 (Utah) This week, Fox 13’s “Dream Team” in Salt Lake City surprised Glendale Middle School physical education teacher, coach and afterschool program director Lucas Tucker at a school assembly...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/10/24

Weekly Media Roundup: January 3, 2024

Robbinsville Extended Day Program is Much More than Childcare, Communitynews.org (New Jersey) At the Sharon Elementary School’s Robbinsville Extended Day (RED) program in New Jersey, students take part in yoga, financial literacy courses, robotics, cooking classes, sign language...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/03/24

Weekly Media Roundup: December 20, 2023

Numerous Metro Detroit Before- and After-School Programs to Receive Portion of $50M MiLEAP Grant, WXYZ (Michigan) Thanks to $50 million in grants from the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP), 67,000 Michigan students will be able to attend...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/20/23

Weekly Media Roundup: December 13, 2023

Federal Grant Helps Restart University of Tulsa Partnership With Kendall-Whittier Elementary, Tulsa World (Oklahoma) Thanks to a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, college students from the University of Tulsa will once again help lead the Youth Scholars afterschool program at...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/13/23

Weekly Media Roundup: December 6, 2023

Wakeman Boys & Girls Club's Financial Literacy Program Aims to Give Bridgeport Teens Life Skills, The Register Citizen (Connecticut) Teens in Bridgeport, Connecticut will learn about credit cards, loans, budgeting, college financial planning and more as part of Wakeman Boys & Girls...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/06/23

Weekly Media Roundup: November 29, 2023

Tackling Absenteeism: Kalamazoo Schools and Community Programs Unite to Keep Students Engaged, WWMT (Michigan) With absenteeism at a historic high of 27 percent in 2022, Kalamazoo Public Schools in Michigan are working with local afterschool programs to develop relationships, improve attendance,...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      11/29/23

Weekly Media Roundup: November 22, 2023

Bend Park District Helps Student Workers with College Tuition, The Bulletin (Oregon) At Bend Park and Recreation District’s Kids Inc. afterschool program, college students from Central Oregon Community College (COCC) and Oregon State University-Cascades are leading STEAM (science,...

BY: Charlotte Steinecke      11/22/23