Weekly Media Roundup - May 19, 2011

Minneapolis Mayor Rybak Named Afterschool Champion in Washington (Fox 9 News, Minnesota)
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak was among the nine state “Afterschool Champions” honored Tuesday at the Afterschool for All Challenge “Breakfast of Champions.”   FIRST founder (and inventor of the “Segway”) Dean Kamen was also honored for his work advocating for improved teaching of science and technology to young people.  See pictures from this year’s Afterschool for All Challenge and learn more here.

Group Tries to Aid After-School Programs (Statesman Journal, Oregon)
The Salem-Keizer Education Foundation, run by Afterschool Ambassador Krina Lemons, is reaching out to the community to save eight afterschool programs that are set to close next year.  The Foundation is having an online auction and working with local businesses to help offset a $54 million shortfall that would close more than half of the Salem-Keizer school district’s afterschool programs.

Letter to the Editor: Tell Congress Not to Cut Funding for After-School Programs (Birmingham News, Alabama)
Afterschool Ambassador Bretta Freeman writes, “Congress continues work on a budget bill for the 2012 fiscal year, with the possibility of deep cuts to education programs, including after-school programs across the state…  Even without these proposed cuts, more than 15 million children in the United States have no safe, supervised activities after the school day ends.  By contrast, quality after-school programs keep children safe, inspire them to learn and help working families.  And they're particularly important in the current economic climate, because working parents can rely on them to make sure their kids are safe and constructively engaged during the late-afternoon hours.”  Find data on how the proposed cut would affect your state here.

Honesdale Students' Emails to Astronaut Out of This World (Times-Tribune, Pennsylvania)
Afterschool students at Lakeside Elementary School in Honesdale are eagerly awaiting a response to an email they sent to astronaut Gregory Chamitoff on the space shuttle Endeavour.  The exchange was arranged by a children’s book and magazine publisher, who approached school officials with the idea.  Among the questions the students asked:  Do you wear sunglasses while on board Endeavor, do asteroids ever come to close to the space shuttle, and what’s the scariest thing about being in space?