Weekly Media Roundup  May 6, 2015

Texas Kids Need More After-School Options (TribTalk, Texas)

Andy Roddick, a former professional tennis player, and Molly Clayton, executive director of the Texas Partnership for Out of School Time, advocated for more state funding for afterschool programs in TribTalk: “Over 935,000 Texas schoolchildren are unsupervised in the critical hours after school… But despite continually unmet demand and positive academic outcomes, current public and private investments in after-school and summer programs are simply not enough. Federal funding for these programs, which is already unable to meet the growing demand, is at risk. Local governments and private philanthropy have been working to fill in gaps, but they can’t do it alone. The state of Texas has a much bigger role to play in ensuring that these programs are available, affordable and high quality.”

School Gardens Sprout in Central San Joaquin Valley (Fresno Bee, California)

Visalia Unified School District launched Growbiotics, an afterschool gardening program, last fall, and it’s already so popular that most of its 25 elementary schools have waiting lists. Each child gets one square foot of the garden, where it is their responsibility to plant seeds and seedlings, remove weeds, water the plants and harvest what they grow. They also regularly measure and record air and ground temperature. In the fall the students grow broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, spinach and beets, and spring gardens include squash, carrots, tomatoes, herbs, eggplants and lettuce. “I like how we can all come together and plant and harvest stuff,” fifth-grader Faith Bither told the Fresno Bee. “You can learn and do something fun.”

St. Paul Students Explore Jazz in Mobile After-School Program (St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minnesota)

The Mobile Jazz afterschool program is introducing students to jazz. At the twice-weekly program, 80 middle and high school students get a lesson from local professional musicians then break into smaller, concentrated groups – poets and songwriters, instrumentalists, singers and dancers, and those interested in audio production and the technical side of music. Students performed for their peers and the community at the culminating exhibition last week. Program creator Andrew Fischer said he hopes to give kids a place where their creativity can flow freely. “These little people need a safe environment to come out, to express themselves,” he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. 

YWCA Children Go on Mother’s Day Shopping Spree (Deseret News, Utah)

Mother’s Day can be a hard time for women in domestic violence shelters, but a YWCA afterschool program and the nonprofit Women’s Edge are doing what they can to help. Nearly 40 students in the afterschool program participated in an all-expenses-paid Mother’s Day shopping spree Monday. Each child was paired with a Women’s Edge hostess, who helped the children find gifts for their moms and adhere to the $50 per mother budget. Kids selected bags, books, dresses and jewelry at marked-down prices, taking care to consider their moms’ favorite colors. “It’s cool to see how selfless kids can be,” Fred Meyers Jewelers sales associate Clark Henrikson told Deseret News. “They’re so excited to be able to be so generous.”