Weekly Media Roundup - January 15, 2013

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Weekly Media Roundup - January 15, 2013

By Luci Manning Posted: Jan 15, 2014

New After-School Program at Selma High School (Hanford Sentinel, California)

Selma High School and Second Chance Animal Shelter are partnering up to provide students with a unique afterschool experience. Starting this month students will have the opportunity to participate in a new afterschool program that combines academic skills with humane education so students can learn confidence and empathy. “Building a community’s capacity with students and adults who understand and care for animals can only make the community a better place to live and work for everyone,” Selma High School Principal Mark Babiarz told the Hanford Sentinel.

Fulton Art Club is Satisfying Artistic Cravings (O’Fallon Progress, Illinois)

After art education was cut from the Edward A. Fulton Junior High School curriculum this year, the students formed an afterschool art club as an outlet for their creative juices, the O’Fallon Progress reports. Thanks to funding from student fees and the booster club, nearly 50 students are able to meet weekly to work on a wide variety of projects ranging from sculpting to drawing, to cake decorating.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Talks After-School Programs (Associated Press, New York)

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio visited an afterschool program last week and again made his case for increased funding for afterschool programs. Calling afterschool programs, a “powerful tool,” de Blasio said that afterschool programs were useful in keeping middle school students engaged and involved and help working parents by providing their children with safe places to be in the afternoons, the Associated Press reports. According to the mayor’s plan, the expansion of afterschool programs to all middle schools would be paid for by tax increases on those earning $500,000 or more annually.

NASA Turns Attention to Stars at Roanoke Middle School (The Roanoke Times, Virginia)

Three young scientists from Stonewall Jackson Middle School presented their findings from a recent experiment to figure out the best materials for shielding radiation to senior officials at NASA and the Department of Education earlier this week. For the past several months, the afterschool students completed various challenges from NASA as part of the 21st Century Community Learning Center STEM Challenges pilot program. Each set of afterschool challenges were taped and sent to NASA, where officials evaluated the projects and selected four teams for a video conference to share their findings. The students spent two hours presenting their findings, answering questions about their experiments, and asking the panelists questions. The students said talking to the panel was the best part and that they were “more excited than nervous,” The Roanoke Times reports.