Weekly Media Roundup: September 11, 2019

Junta’s After-School “Place” Thrives in New Home, New Haven Independent (Connecticut)

The Neighborhood Place (TNP), an afterschool program in New Haven, Connecticut, can now reach up to 75 students with academic support and artistic programming since moving into a larger space.  Junta for Progressive Action has facilitated the program for two decades. More than a quarter of this year’s students were displaced by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and all programming is conducted in both English and Spanish. Students learn to express themselves through art projects such as origami and drawing while forming relationships with college students. “TNP is an integral part of our mission,” Daniel Reyes, executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, told the New Haven Independent. “Both for the advancement of Latino youth, and for cuing up children for academic success.”

Future Artists Flourish in After School Program, KSAT-TV (Texas)

High schoolers in San Antonio, Texas spend up to nine hours a week immersed in the art world in a free afterschool program facilitated by the Blue Star Contemporary art museum. In the MOSAIC program, teens create original art, form relationships with mentors, and explore the art industry. Students also learn to price their own artwork and sell their creations at a Student Art Gallery. “In the MOSAIC program I’ve had a lot of opportunities to meet people I wouldn’t have normally,” a student told KSAT-TV. “I think moving forward I’ll always take this lesson that everyone has something to contribute, and that their art and what they’re doing has meaning to it.”

Kids at Morristown Neighborhood House ‘Garden Up’, MorristownGreen.com (New Jersey)

As part of a yearlong environmental science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) project, students in the Morristown Neighborhood House afterschool and summer learning program in New Jersey constructed their own vertical gardens. The students worked with volunteer carpenters to build the gardens using wood, wire hooks, and chain links. Then, they grew fresh produce and made pizzas with their homegrown ingredients. “Amid the concrete and asphalt found in many urban cities, making the most of limited spaces to maximize food sources has been found to contribute significant environmental, social, economic and health benefits for our urban communities,” Director of Grants and Program Development Pamela DeMassi wrote in MorristownGreen.com.

Scottsbluff Partners to Expand Its After-School Programs for Students, Scottsbluff Star Herald (Nebraska)

At the Scottsbluff Public Schools After School Program in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, more than 200 students play active games to learn about Mars, build volcanoes, tracks or birds nests out of commonly available materials, get homework help and more. The program partners with community organizations to increase students’ exposure to new experiences. 4-H and the YMCA provide learning opportunities, and soon Beyond School Bells will visit with a mobile makerspace. “They get a snack, they get recess and they get a hands-on opportunity that they normally wouldn’t receive in a daycare,” Principal Jeremy Behnke told the Scottsbluff Star Herald. “The more hands-on opportunities we have, the deeper the learning.”