Weekly Media Roundup: September 21, 2022

Many Children are Regularly Exposed to Gun Violence. Here's How to Help them Heal, National Public Radio

In the Cameron Community Ministries afterschool program in Rochester, New York, students learn leadership skills, take part in community-oriented projects, and connect with mentors – supports that program leaders say are especially important as many students have been impacted by gun violence in their neighborhood.  Public health experts note that afterschool programs are an essential community resource that help keep kids safe and support their mental health and wellbeing in the wake of gun violence. “You have these after school programs that are helping young people just identify who they are, what is it that they can do,” Riana Elyse Anderson, researcher at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, told National Public Radio. “When they live past 18, what is it that they want to contribute to their neighborhoods, to their families, to their culture, to themselves?”

Escambia Kids Have 'Nothing to Do After' School. Children's Trust Investing $6 Million to Fix It, Pensacola News Journal (Florida)

In response to the urgent need for more out-of-school time programs, Escambia Children’s Trust in Pensacola, Florida is providing $5,840,000 in grants to support local afterschool, before-school and summer programs. This past summer, teenagers attending a Youth Summit told Children’s Trust representatives that there are not enough programs for high school students. “They kept saying, 'There's nothing for us to do. There’s nowhere for us to go. We don’t have anything to do after school,’” Children’s Trust Executive Director Tammy Greer told Pensacola News Journal. The grants will also help expand full-day preschool options in Pensacola.

Misty Copeland's New Foundation Focuses on Diversity, Equity in Dance, Fox 5 (New York)

In conjunction with the launch of her new foundation to increase diversity in dance, acclaimed American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland is opening a free 12-week afterschool program at two New York City Boys & Girls Clubs. BE BOLD (Ballet Explorations/Ballet Offers Leadership Development) will introduce students ages eight to ten to the world of ballet. “It’s really an opportunity to give young people in underrepresented and under-resourced communities an opportunity to experience the joy of ballet — making it affordable and accessible, which you don't often get with such an elite art form," Copeland told Fox 5. Copeland began ballet lessons at the age of 13 at a Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, California and went on to become the first Black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.

Lowell After-School Program Aims to ‘Level the Playing Field’ for Kids Interested in STEM, The Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)

Thanks to a partnership between Kids in Tech and the Lowell Housing Authority, students living in affordable housing in Lowell, Massachusetts have access to afterschool programs offering hands-on activities in coding and robotics. “I believe that talent comes from everywhere, and every kid deserves access. Every kid, with early exposure, deserves a chance to know, ‘Oh, wow, I can be a coder. I can be an engineer. I can be a graphic designer. I can do all these things,’” Founder and CEO Olu Ibrahim told the Lowell Sun. “Our hope is to open kids’ eyes into how integrated tech is into everything and how they can build and become innovators in their own lives.”