Weekly Media Roundup: July 28, 2021

Metro Detroit After-School Programs Receive More than $1.5M in Grants, Detroit Free Press (Michigan)

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. foundation’s Generator-Z funding initiative, which recently awarded grants totaling $4 million dollars to more than 90 afterschool providers in Michigan and New York, centered youth voices at every phase of its grantmaking process. First, the foundation surveyed 10,000 students about what they value in afterschool programing. Then, Generator-Z recruited 1,000 teen ‘generators’ to share their visions and ideas, which afterschool providers were required to cite in their grant proposals. The grant review team also included teens who had the power to advance and veto ideas. “Being a teenager in ... the Generator-Z program, it was very different from being a teenager in other spaces. It was very welcoming,” teen community reviewer Akhila Mullapudi told the Detroit Free Press. “We had a lot to say and what we had to say was very respected. Our criticism was valued.” 

Magnolia Youths Spend Part of Summer Learning About Agriculture and Forestry, Magnolia Reporter (Arkansas)

Thanks to a partnership between the Free Union Missionary Baptist Church and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s (UAPB’s) Keeping it in the Family Small Farm Program, students in Magnolia, Arkansas spent six weeks this summer learning about agriculture through field trips, guest speakers and hands-on activities. Students explored a wide variety of careers and met a plant reader, a veterinarian, a meteorologist and a forester. “There are many people retiring from the USDA so this could be a career opportunity for these kids if they decide to take an agriculture path while they are in college,” Kandi Williams, who works for the UAPB Small Farm Program, told the Magnolia Reporter.

Columbus City Schools' Retooled 'Summer Experience' More Hands-On, The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

More than 8,100 students in Columbus, Ohio participated in six weeks of hands-on, interactive learning through Columbus City Schools Summer Experience program. To spark students’ interest in learning, the program connected basic skills such as reading and math to big-picture projects, including aviation, urban agriculture, ornithology, fashion, robotics, cybersecurity and more. Students also stayed active by kayaking, practicing survival skills in the woods, golfing, and exploring a local nature conservatory. Summer Experience Coordinator Emma Corbin told the Columbus Dispatch, “Looking back, just [students’] excitement being back in classrooms really makes everything we do on the back end that much more worth it.”

Summer School Students Treated to an Out of this World Lesson, Mountain Statesman (West Virginia)

Elementary students in the School-a-pool-ooza summer learning program in Grafton, West Virginia recently used a solar telescope to safely observe the surface of the sun in an activity led by Taylor County Board of Education and Central Appalachian Astronomy Club member John Taylor. “We are trying to offer some out of the norm learning experiences to our summer school students, and they have all really been enjoying it,” teacher Bethany Knight told the Mountain Statesman.