Weekly Media Roundup, August 21, 2019

21st Century Learning, Times Observer (Pennsylvania)

This year, the 21st Century Community Learning Center in Warren County, Pennsylvania is partnering with NASA to give students real-world experiences in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). Students at ten elementary and middle schools will choose and complete engineering design projects while participating in virtual meetings with NASA scientists to discuss their progress. “It’s a really great opportunity for the kids to be able to see how what they’re doing in school connects with the world,” Grant Project Manager Christine Haslett told the Times Observer. “It’s a good way to broaden their vision of what’s out there and what’s available to them… give them a look at careers that they might not normally think of.”

Memphis Rox Providing More Than After-School Activities for Local Children, Fox 13 (Tennessee)

A nonprofit rock-climbing gym called Memphis Rox in Tennessee is using a variety of fitness activities to create an afterschool community that students describe as “family.” Hundreds of students attend the program year-round to access rock climbing walls, treadmills, boxing equipment, and a meditation room. Students also receive free meals, and the program is partnering with Best Buy to build a technology center. “They’re in there having fun,” staff member Brittany Luckett told Fox 13. “They have somewhere to hang out instead of the streets after school.”

Pen Pals Young and Old Glimpse World Through ‘Different Eyes’, Catholic Philly (Pennsylvania)

About 16,000 children participate each year in St. Helena’s Out-of-School Time afterschool and summer programs in Philadelphia. For the second consecutive summer, students in the Olney neighborhood site practiced their writing skills and broadened their sense of community by becoming pen pals with members of a nearby senior club. The students exchanged handwritten letters with the seniors about movies, TV, video games and life experiences, and then met their pen pals at a pizza party that included a presentation from Philadelphia Zoo staff. “It’s about looking through different eyes,” Senior Club Coordinator Joan Evans told Catholic Philly. “There is more to life than our little dimension of seeing.”

Boys and Girls Club of Harlem’s Year-Round Mission Aiding Uptown’s Youth, New York Daily News (New York)

The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem will serve as a Disney STEM Center of Innovation this year, delivering STEM education to more than 1,200 children in afterschool and summer programs. The program will offer 3-D printers, robotics, video production and a dedicated STEM expert. In 2020, BGCHarlem will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Executive Director Dominique Jones told the New York Daily News, “We will double down on our commitment to the kids we serve by continuing to provide high-quality programming year-round so that Harlem’s youth can achieve great things in school and in life.”