Weekly Media Roundup - August 6, 2014

Rally Offers Pittsburgh Public Schools' Youth Chance to Grow Through Art (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania)

Once again, students in the Art Activism summer program displayed a wide range of artistic abilities at the annual MGR Youth Rally for Change.  The program provides free academic and artistic instruction for Pittsburgh students in grades K-8 and encourages them to pursue the art form they find most appealing.   Some chose to sculpt and take photographs, others, dance.  Art Activism does more than help the students learn these mediums, but also promotes using these new tools as a way to express themselves, giving them a voice or an outlet with which to cope with problems, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The Pittsburgh Public Schools' Summer Dreamers Academy offers free academic and arts instruction for k-8 students seeking to close the summer learning gap for children from economically disadvantaged families.

Go2College Gives Silver Spring Students the 411 (The Gazette, Maryland)

Middle school students in Silver Spring discovered this summer that it’s never too early to start thinking about college.  The new Go2College summer program introduced the students, many of whom would be the first in their families to go to college, to everything from college lingo and dorm rooms to questionnaires designed to help the students decide what careers would best suit them. Cynthia Rubenstein, executive director of Passion for Learning, one of the nonprofits supporting Go2College, told The Gazette that the program is intended to help the students understand what a college experience entails and what they can do to prepare for it, saying, “It’s become less abstract for them.”

Nourishing Kids' Stomachs and Minds in Treasure Valley Parks (Idaho Statesman, Idaho)

Lakeview Park is the place to be for kids in Nampa.  Through a combination of community efforts, the students get free lunch and entertainment to fill both summer nutrition and learning gaps.  After dining on nourishing lunches provided by Oasis Food Center, the Nampa Public Library’s Summer Literacy in the Park begins story time and other fun activities including science experiments and jump-rope.  The Idaho Statesman reports that the Summer Literacy in the Park has been so successful that it has expanded beyond Nampa, and now operates in 26 sites in Boise and Garden City.