Weekly Media Roundup: October 21, 2015

Editorial: Keep Lights On and Kids Engaged in Schools (Des Moines Register, Iowa)

“Rather than sending kids home to empty houses or, worse, to the streets, schools should keep the lights on and the doors open,” states an editorial from the Des Moines Register. “The need is for programs that will enrich and continue the learning process students have been engaged in during the school day… schools can be the most important building in any community. They should not be locked up and the lights turned off in the middle of the afternoon, or for months at a time during the summertime. They should be used throughout the day and the evening as places for community connections and continuing education. The Afterschool Alliance makes a compelling case that the state should make that a top priority in the next session of the Iowa General Assembly.”

Week Highlights Importance of the After-School Effect (Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, New York)

New York State Rep. Donna Lupardo stressed the importance of afterschool programs in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. “This week is national Lights on Afterschool Week, highlighting the importance of programming outside the classroom. Afterschool programs are a critically important component of student development and success… Studies have shown that participation in high quality after-school programming results in higher attendance rates, better grades and safer behavior. Statistics also show lower crime, teen pregnancy and childhood obesity rates for students involved in such programs. And because students are helped academically, colleges and businesses are less likely to have to spend money on remedial training, such as reading, writing and math.”

Music Changing Lives Hosts Annual Program in Redlands (Redlands Daily Facts, California)

Students in the Redlands’ Music Changing Lives (MCL) afterschool program performed music and dance numbers and put on a fashion show as part of the program’s Lights On Afterschool celebration on Saturday. MCL unlocks kids’ creativity through music and arts programming while also giving them an outlet to express themselves. Program director Steven Hernandez said he didn’t fully understand the positive impact of MCL until he saw what it offered to struggling students. “When I started working with kids with a few more difficulties and problems, I realized this was one of the places they could come to not only be themselves, but grow and escape from what they maybe have to deal with every day,” he told Redlands Daily Facts.

Aftershock Fills Gap for Students, Parents (Norfolk Daily News, Virginia)

An afterschool program has given middle school students in Norfolk a safe place to spend their afternoons. Aftershock provides afterschool clubs for 240 students, focusing on science, performing arts, arts and crafts, fitness and sign language. The program will open its doors for Lights On Afterschool tomorrow, which director Chance Buss hopes will encourage the community to support Aftershock in the future. “We don’t want to look back and say, ‘Oh, that was a good thing we did for a few years.’ We want it to be something where it impacts the current students and it impacts students ten, 15, 20 years down the road,” he told the Norfolk Daily News.

400 Minnesota Kids Take Part in Lights On After School Event for After School Program Awareness (WDAY, Minnesota) 

Four hundred Minnesota students in the YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties celebrated Lights On Afterschool last week with a fun run. The YMCA serves 2,000 students through before and afterschool programs in Minnesota and North Dakota, providing structure for kids in the hours when they would normally be unsupervised. YMCA assistant school age director Kari Langeberg explained the purpose of the Lights On event to WDAY: “to raise awareness, especially for policymakers and public leaders … to show there is a need and that lots of kids are in after school programs.”