Weekly Media Roundup: November 7, 2019

Stone Spring Students Skype With NASA Engineer, Daily News-Record (Virginia)

This year, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at Stone Spring Elementary in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is collaborating with NASA to spark students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Through the partnership, students in third through fifth grade are working in teams after school to design and build a device that would help a spacecraft land on Mars. They will share their invention with NASA at the end of the semester. Recently, the students Skyped with NASA mechanical engineer Monica Guzlik to learn more about her career and the engineering challenges she addresses. “I get to solve new problems every day,” Guzlik told the students, according to the Daily News-Record.

Culinary Program a Way to Connect Kids to Caring, Supportive Adults, Youth Today

Students at My Place Teen Center in Westbrook, Maine benefit from a culinary arts program facilitated by a former chef de cuisine at a James Beard award-winning restaurant. The students shop for groceries, cook meals that are served at the program, learn about cleanliness and safety standards, observe operations at local restaurants, and learn how to apply and interview for restaurant jobs. A larger goal of the program is to develop students’ social and emotional skills and encourage mentoring relationships with caring adults. “We know that food is a good hook, a good lure,” Donna Dwyer, president and CEO of My Place, told Youth Today. “It could make a difference in a kid’s life.”

Local Y Tackles Bullying in SAFE Program, The Franklin News-Post (Virginia)

More than 250 students attend the Franklin County Family YMCA’s Safe-Active-Fun-Educational (SAFE) before- and afterschool program each day in Virginia. In addition to homework help, healthy snacks and hands-on enrichment, a key facet of the program is the Character Counts curriculum, which features weekly activities focused on helping students develop responsibility, kindness and respect. Through discussions of concepts such as fairness and tact, the program aims to prevent bullying and promote mental health awareness. “A big part of what we do in our afterschool program is make young leaders,” Childcare Coordinator Jamie Stump told the Franklin News-Post. “A huge part of that is to give them guidance on how to treat others and how important it is to be kind.”

Meet 'Pastor Shaq,' Who Runs Safe, Fun After-School Programs in Hamilton, WCPO-TV (Ohio)

When the school day ends, hundreds of children in Hamilton, Ohio benefit from physical activity, literacy, boxing, music, mentorship and jobs programs through Hamilton Young People Empowered (HYPE). The afterschool program exists thanks to Shaquila Mathews. Known as Pastor Shaq, Mathews is a pastor and anti-violence advocate who lost her brother to gun violence and works to protect children from similar trauma. “The person she is in general just makes our lives better,” student Sire Riggins told WCPO-TV. “When you see Pastor Shaq, you know something good is gonna happen.”