Weekly Media Roundup: May 15, 2019

Dallas Boys and Girls Club Draws High Praise, Gaston Gazette (Texas)

Every day after school, about 45 students from Carr Elementary in Dallas, Texas arrive at a new Boys and Girls Club, which opened last October. The afterschool program offers homework help, physical activities including football and basketball, character development and more. Parent Wendy Hall told the Gaston Gazette that since joining the program, her two sons’ “reading levels have gone up. One of them has developed a liking for math, whereas before he couldn’t stand it. And both of them have gone from making low C’s to mostly A’s over the past seven months…This place has not just brought the kids together, it has brought the whole community together.”

SBCUSD Un-CAPS After School Achievements at Family Festival, Highland Community News (California)

More than 1,000 students and their families gathered in early May to celebrate students’ work at Creative After-school Programs for Success (CAPS) in San Bernardino, California. At interactive booths and through performances, students showcased their creative projects including choreographed dances, robotics, using junk mail to grow plants and more. Television actor Tony Plana served as master of ceremonies at the event. “We want learning to happen not just at school, we want learning to happen after school, during the summer, at home, on field trips; everything from our kids going to Catalina Island and to the mountains, to having experiences that they may not normally have,” Dennis Warman, CAPS director for the San Bernardino Unified School District, told the Highland Community News.

Collaborative Program Between UVM and BHS is Helping new English learners, My Champlain Valley (Vermont)

This semester, English language learners in Burlington High School’s afterschool program benefited from a unique partnership with the University of Vermont (UVM). Twice a week, language studies students from UVM visited the afterschool program to tutor English learners one-on-one. The UVM students gained firsthand experience in teaching, and the afterschool students developed their literacy skills through personal relationships. Patient Mwibeleca, who moved to Vermont from the Congo eight months ago, bonded with his UVM mentor over soccer and video games. “When I first came here, I had no friends and I was not talking to people,” Mwibeleca told My Champlain Valley. “It was hard for me to speak English because I wasn't talking to anybody….This program has really helped me in making sentences.”

Madison Students Get STEM Education Through Urban Gardening Initiative, AdVantage (Illinois)

In the Urban Gardening afterschool program in Madison, Illinois, fifth through eighth grade girls test pH levels in soil, make rain barrels, use microscopes to observe soil samples and more. The program is a collaboration between Southern Illinois University, the Madison County Housing Authority and the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities. It uses hands-on environmental activities to spark girls’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. “This program makes science exciting,” seventh-grade student Zarria Clark told the AdVantage. “I didn’t used to like going outside, but now that I’ve learned different things about the environment, I like to go out and explore.”