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Weekly Media Roundup: August 29, 2018

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Weekly Media Roundup: August 29, 2018

Diving Deep: New After-School Program at Library Aims to Improve STEM Skills, Kokomo Tribune (Indiana)

In Indiana, the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library (KHCPL) uses diverse ‘challenges’ to inspire a love of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in third- to seventh-grade students. Through the Digital Divers afterschool program, students complete STEM challenges ranging from laser mazes to Photoshop tasks to accumulate points and win prizes. Mentors are available to provide assistance, but the program emphasizes self-guided exploration to encourage students to learn how to learn. Children “can come here and they can have a safe place to be, learn and feel a sense of accomplishment, increase their STEM skills, which will help them and the future, all while earning prizes,” KHCPL director of marketing and community engagement Lisa Fipps told the Kokomo Tribune.

Expanding Summer Learning Collaborative Battles “Summer Learning Loss,” Delaware Public Media (Delaware)

Over the past five years, the Delaware Summer Learning Collaborative has reached 2,700 kindergarten through eighth-grade students with project-based summer programming. The collaborative partners with summer camps based at community centers to implement academic activities to combat summer learning loss. Pre- and post-tests indicated that 66 percent of students gained literacy skills in 2017. “At the start, they want someone to tell them how to do things, and we say, ‘no, you have to figure it out yourself,’” program coach Tonya Baines told Delaware Public Media. “They grow in critical thinking skills and in confidence.”

How an Oakland Nonprofit Is Teaching Girls Environmental STEM in a Way That Hits Close to Home, EdSurge

The Oakland-based nonprofit, Techbridge Girls, earned a national environmental education innovation award this year for its work creating pathways to STEM careers for low-income girls. The organization’s free afterschool programs, which reach about 600 girls each year, emphasize projects that are responsive to the students’ surroundings. For example, after the 2017 Sonoma wildfires, students learned about fire ecology and worked with disaster recovery professionals. “Environmental education and STEM for us are two intersections,” Techbridge CEO Nikole Collins-Puri told EdSurge. “Our girls, when they walk out of their household everyday, understand and live the environmental conditions, no matter if it’s about air quality, water quality or sanitation issues. That is their reality.”

In a Foreign Land, These Youngsters Spend Their Pittsburgh Summer Piecing Together a New Language and Confidence, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)

At the Pittsburgh Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment (PRYSE) Academy, students from the around the world build community and practice English through art projects, academic activities, field trips and more. The free summer learning program for immigrant and refugee students was created six years ago by a University of Pittsburgh student to increase academic achievement for English language learners. “We focus, I think, a lot on building confidence, so students feel good practicing and expressing themselves,” PRYSE Academy Co-Director Isabelle Ouyang told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Weekly Media Roundup: August 14, 2024

Virginia Designates Additional Aid for At-Risk Students, Virginia Mercury (Virginia) Beginning this fall, Virginia schools will have an additional $180 million per year to support at-risk students. A 2023 study found that Virginia provided less state funding for at-risk students than the...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/14/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 7, 2024

Chicago Touts After-School Program Growth But Cuts Funding, Chalkbeat Weeks before the school year begins, many Chicago afterschool programs are facing dramatic funding cuts as federal COVID funds wind down and Chicago Public Schools is allocating fewer resources to out-of-school time programs....

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/07/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 31, 2024

A North Texas School District is Offering a Free Dinner Program for Students This Year, WFAA (Texas) This fall, Fort Worth Independent School District is partnering with Sodexo to provide free dinners at its afterschool enrichment programs. “We are excited about the opportunities this...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/31/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 24, 2024

Davis Promotes Afterschool Programs in McKeesport Visit, The Mon Valley Independent (Pennsylvania) To celebrate Pennsylvania’s new BOOST (Building Opportunity through Out of School Time) initiative, which includes $11.5 million for afterschool, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis visited...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/24/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 17, 2024

The Dog Days of Summer Drag. Summer Learning Programs Can Help, The Journal (Colorado) To celebrate National Summer Learning Week, 360 students across nine Colorado counties wrote postcards to their state lawmakers about why they love their summer learning programs. “I think summer camp is...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/17/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 10, 2024

Education Matters: Central Valley Schools Are Expanding Students’ Learning Experiences,Your Central Valley (California) Thanks to a series of partnerships with county offices and Community Youth Ministries, students in the Selma Unified and Kings Canyon Unified School Districts in Fresno,...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/10/24

Weekly Media Roundup: July 3, 2024

Inside a Summer Learning Camp With an Uncertain Future After ESSER, Education Week More than 1,400 students are participating in Grizzly Learning Camp, a free, seven-week summer learning program run by Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan. It uses project-based learning – including...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      07/03/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 27, 2024

The Surprising Reason Black Schools Face a ‘Fiscal Cliff’ This Fall, Word in Black As federal COVID emergency funds expire this fall, Black students around the country are at risk of losing access to afterschool programs and other supports that students in better-funded school...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/26/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 20, 2024

Parents in Viroqua Come Together for the 'Save the After School Program' Campaign, WXOW (Wisconsin) At the McIntosh Memorial Library’s afterschool program in Viroqua, Wisconsin, students take part in outdoor games, visit local arts organizations, read to a therapy dog named Gordon,...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/20/24

Weekly Media Roundup: June 12, 2024

Tacoma's Late Night Summer Youth Program Aims to Curb Violence, Fox 13 Seattle (Washington) At 12 locations across Tacoma this summer, middle and high schoolers are taking part in Summer Late Nights programming held by Metro Parks Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools. Each weeknight, teens can...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      06/12/24