Weekly Media Roundup: June 5, 2024

Pandemic Aid for Schools is Ending Soon. Many After-School Programs May Go With It, NPR

A recent Afterschool Alliance analysis found that 4 million additional students were able to access afterschool program thanks to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. But as those funds expire this fall, many of those students may lose access. For example, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, out-of-school time nonprofit The Opp will need to scale back its support for 450 afterschool programs to just 75. Afterschool Alliance Senior Vice President for Policy Erik Peterson told NPR that funding for afterschool programs is important because programs help students develop communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution, which “employers look for in terms of so-called ‘21st-century skills’ or workforce skills, but also really the skills just anyone needs to be successful — both in school, but really, in life.”

HOMETOWN HERO: Delray Beach Nonprofit Dedicated to Helping Children Learn to Read, CBS 12 News (Florida)

At the Roots and Wings’ Project Uplift afterschool program in Delray Beach, Florida, third graders work closely with reading specialists to improve their reading skills. “We think the secret to the success of the program is that it's after school,” Roots and Wings founder Ted Hoskinson told CBS 12 News. “It’s in school, a safe place for the kids, taught by the teachers who know them best.” The afterschool program serves more than 1,000 students in 13 Palm Beach County elementary schools.

Iowa After School Program Empowers Young Girls Through Photography, KCCI (Iowa)

In Des Moines, Iowa, girls at the Butterfly Effect afterschool program are learning how to use a real camera, not a cellphone, to frame and capture pictures. “Get them away from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, you know, instant gratification, into a more thoughtful, artistic way to view the world,” local photographer Dan Troxell told KCCI. Troxell is partnering with the afterschool program, sharing his 200 cameras with the students and teaching them how to develop film and capture moments through a different lens.

After-School Care is Critical to Michigan’s Future Success, Leaders Say, Michigan Advance (Michigan)

At the Detroit Regional Chamber’s recent Mackinac Policy Conference, a panel of community leaders shared how afterschool programs enable parents to work, develop students as leaders, and strengthen communities. Panelists pointed to the need for more sustainable funding to scale investments, so all young people have access to opportunities after school. “I think we’re having a moment where we’re shifting the discussion from ‘That’s a family responsibility’ or ‘That’s a community only responsibility’ to saying, ‘Actually, this is infrastructure that matters intensely for the goals that we have as a state, for our talent goals,’” Michelle Richard, Acting Director of Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, told Michigan Advance.