Weekly Media Roundup  May 27, 2015

Bridging the Generation Gap with Chess (Wall Street Journal, New York)

Teenagers and senior citizens are learning to play chess together at Dorot, a Jewish social services agency on the Upper West Side. Inspired by his chess-based friendship with 91-year-old Herman Bomze, 14-year-old Zach Targoff donated his bar mitzvah money to fund the program, paying for staff, refreshments, transportation for the seniors, and chess equipment and training. The players meet once a week after school during the year, and many of them continue to play throughout the summer. “Teens go to seniors’ homes and bring the chessboard with them,” Dorot’s director of volunteer services Judith Turner told the Wall Street Journal. “We were so amazed by the outpouring of interest.”

Knitting Club Teaches Students Fun Skills and Helping Others (Pickerington Times-Sun, Ohio)

For years, Denise Yauch has been a fixture at Tussing Elementary School – she could always be seen knitting at a number of her grandson’s school programs. Last year, she decided to spread her love of knitting to a new generation by hosting an afterschool program that encourages students to keep up with their classwork, improves teamwork and socialization and teaches them a lifelong skill. “To watch them grow from, ‘I don’t know how to hold a needle,’ to casting on has been a delight,” she told the Pickerington Times-Sun. Almost 50 third- and fourth-grade girls meet three times a week to learn basic knitting techniques and create scarves, blankets and much more.

‘Fab Five’ Kids with Water App Idea Raise $51,000 (Fresno Bee, California)

Thanks to five tech-savvy elementary school students, Fresno residents may soon be able to receive real-time updates about their water usage to their computers or smart phones. The students first thought up the water-saving app as part of their FIRST Lego League robotics competition project, an afterschool program that requires participants to come up with a project that could positively impact society. After pitching the idea to a crowd of parents, business and city leaders, the students raised $51,000 to fund the development of the app that could be ready by September. “We didn’t really think it was going to happen. It might do some good if it did, but (we thought) we’d never get the funding or someone to do it,” eleven-year-old Jeffrey told the Fresno Bee. “Now we get to be part of it and learn how coders do things.”

Afterschool Program Helps Kids Stay Out of Trouble (KWWL, Iowa)

‘Dare to be King,’ an afterschool program at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, is trying to curb violence in Waterloo. The program gives kids a safe space to relax, talk about life and learn how to avoid or mitigate dangerous situations. “I like that they teach you to make the right decision when you’re getting stopped by the police or in a bad situation,” participant Camren Montgomery told KWWL. Program organizer Felecia Carter says one of the most important missions of the group is to prevent students from getting involved in local gangs. “I wish I could help everybody, but I know that if other churches open up their door and allow organizations to come in and hold programs, that will be so much more of a positive outcome,” she said.