Weekly Media Roundup: December 16, 2020

Column: Hawaii Behind on Afterschool Programs, Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Hawaii)

Although data from the household survey America After 3 PM showed Hawaii was a national leader in afterschool participation in 2009, the 2020 America After 3 PM report shows unmet demand for afterschool has increased dramatically in the state since then. In a recent guest column for the Honolulu-Star Advertiser, Hawai’i Afterschool Alliance Program Director Jennifer Masutani noted that barriers to afterschool participation including cost, availability and lack of transportation are hurting children and families. The pandemic has created additional challenges and put many programs in danger of closing. “We need to recognize that afterschool programs can help students catch up and keep up from COVID-19,” Masutani wrote. “To prevent thousands of afterschool spots from disappearing, state leaders need to act now. Specifically, the state needs to grant more flexibility so we can strategically leverage federal funds already allocated to our afterschool programs.”

Why More Families Need ‘Afterschool’ Programs to Cope with Pressures of Pandemic, Deseret News (Utah)

Since the pandemic hit, afterschool programs have stepped up to meet the changing needs of their communities by serving as socially distanced sites for being schooled remotely, distributing meals, connecting families to resources, and more. At the same time, programs are facing increased operating costs and inadequate funding, putting three in five programs in danger of closing permanently or laying off staff, according to a new report from the Afterschool Alliance. Public funding is needed to close the gaps and ensure all families can access programs. “Unmet demand has never been higher,” Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant told the Deseret News.

After-School Program Prevails in Trying Times, Newport This Week (Rhode Island)

At the Team-FAME afterschool program in Newport, Rhode Island, students learn essential life skills including teamwork, conflict resolution and more through tennis practice, nutrition education, academic enrichment and mentorship. During the pandemic, the program has kept students engaged through creative activities such as online Pictionary parties, one-on-one tutoring on Zoom, and virtual tennis challenges. “To me, the most important tool in this program is the respect present in every interaction. This foundation will lead to healthy relationship building and to developing great future leaders for Newport,” volunteer Kathy Longson wrote in a letter to the editor for Newport This Week.

Connecting With NASA: Falcons Flyers Afterschool Program Selected for STEM Challenge, Williams-Grand Canyon News (Arizona)

Elementary and middle school students in the Falcon Flyers 21st Century Community Learning Center afterschool program in Williams, Arizona are connecting with real NASA engineers and solving challenges using real mission data as part of the NASA STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Challenge. The initiative helps students explore STEM careers while practicing problem solving and collaboration. According to science teacher Trina Siegfried, students have already sorted themselves into committees to tackle the challenges. “They knew that each person would need to be responsible for something and then we would need to collaborate. My eighth graders are used to doing that in the lab. They’ve already started to own it, which I’m really proud of,” Siegfried told Williams-Grand Canyon News.