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Weekly Media Roundup: December 22, 2021

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Weekly Media Roundup: December 22, 2021

Virginia Beach Before & After School Programs Saved After Surge of Applicants, WTKR (Virginia)

After the approval of a pay rate increase, the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department received hundreds of applicants seeking employment at its before and afterschool programs. The influx of potential employees has prevented the closure of three before-school and 11 afterschool programs. “We are very grateful to City leadership for recognizing the urgency of this situation and approving the pay increase that ultimately allowed us to hire enough staff to save these critical programs,” Michael Kirschman, director of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, told WTKR. “Providing this good news to the families who were impacted is the best holiday present we could have asked for, and we are thankful to the people who have applied and come on board to join the team.”

North Missouri Center for Youth and Families Awarded Grant for After School Program, Constitution-Tribune (Missouri)

Thanks to a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant recently awarded to the North Missouri Center for Youth and Families, students in Chillicothe, Missouri will benefit from a comprehensive afterschool program that includes hands-on learning, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programming, and more.  “Through this funding, we can better help the children of Chillicothe R-II and the surrounding area to succeed in school,” Missouri State Representative Rusty Black told the Constitution-Tribune. “Children who regularly attend quality after school programs improve their grades in math, science and reading, score higher on MAP testing, are more likely to attend school regularly, and most importantly, they are less likely to engage in risky or unsafe behaviors.”

Upper Arlington School Teams with Nonprofit to Provide Meals for Kids Over Winter Break, Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

Thanks to a successful Winter Break Comfort Bag Drive, families from the After-School All-Stars program in Columbus, Ohio will receive a large donation of food, winter clothing and gifts as they start a two-week holiday break when schools and afterschool programs will be closed. Students from Greensview Elementary School helped donate $7,000 of food and supplies to support the afterschool program. Expecting only a few carloads of donations, After-School All-Stars Development Manager Renee O’Shaughnessy was thrilled by the overwhelming response from the school. “We ended up using a Realtor’s truck to pick up all these bags. We were completely blown away and did not expect this,” O’Shaughnessy told the Columbus Dispatch.

TRUE Skool After School Program Uses Hip-Hop to Help Youth Discover their Creative Side, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)

For more than 16 years, TRUE Skool has used hip-hop culture to promote leadership, entrepreneurship and social justice advocacy among students. At the afterschool program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, students learn to spin vinyl, write and produce original music, breakdance, produce videos, and more. In the process, they connect with mentors, explore the business side of the music industry, develop their voices and learn new skills. “It is getting them to understand that their voices are powerful and their ideas are powerful and that they can manifest whatever they want to,” Co-Director Fidel Verdin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Through the arts, we are building that confidence and showing them how to network and professionalize their passion."

Weekly Media Roundup: February 26, 2025

Discover How the Leaps After School Program is Transforming Lives at Harrison Elementary, News Channel 9 (Tennessee) At Harrison Elementary’s Leaps After School Program in Chattanooga, Tennessee, students are publishing a newspaper focusing on Black historical figures to be displayed...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/26/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 19, 2025

Durham Teens Fight for After-School Program Funding Amid Youth Gun Violence: 'My Safe Space,' ABC 11 (North Carolina) In Durham, North Carolina, teenagers rallied together to urge Durham City Council members to increase funding for afterschool programs, sharing how critical these...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/19/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 12, 2025

'He Invests His Own Money': After School Program Started by Pasco School Employee Still Going Strong, WFTS-TV (Florida) In the 1980s, Eugene Scott founded an afterschool program called This Is How We Do It to provide food, music, dance, mentorship and more to students in his Pasco County...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/12/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 5, 2025

Claysburg-Kimmel Touts New Programs for Students, Altoona Mirror (Pennsylvania) Students at the Bulldog After-School Club in Claysburg, Pennsylvania are participating in new educational activities with a Beam mobile projector that transforms the center into an interactive visual playground. The...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/05/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 29, 2025

Afterschool Program Introduces West Columbia Students to Technology, The Facts (Texas) Students at West Columbia Elementary in Texas are taking part in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities in the new Robocatters afterschool program, which already has a long...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/29/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 22, 2025

Another Year, Another Long Waitlist for BUSD After-School Program, Berkeleyside (California) Due to ongoing staffing shortages, more than 200 students are currently waitlisted for afterschool programs at Berkeley Unified School District. Parents in the district’s PTA Collaborative on...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/22/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 15, 2025

New 4-H Program Will Bring STEAM to Area Students, KNEB (Nebraska) Students in rural Expanding Learning Opportunity programs in Nebraska are exploring aerospace, electronics, engineering, robotics and more thanks to a partnership with 4-H. The Think Make Create Lab is a six-by-12 mobile trailer...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/15/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 8, 2025

Parks and Recreation Secures Grant to Bring Physical Activity Education to Youth in Afterschool Program, WBIW (Indiana) More than 50 students in the Banneker Afterschool program in Bloomington, Indiana are taking part in fun physical activities this year led by Indiana University School of...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/08/25

Weekly Media Roundup: December 18, 2024

Mason City YMCA Teaching Social and Emotional Skills to Kids, News-Press Now (Iowa) Students in the Mason City YMCA afterschool program in Iowa practice communication, emotional regulation, empathy and more in twice-weekly social and emotional learning sessions, learning, for instance, to take...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/18/24

Weekly Media Roundup: December 11, 2024

Usher Helps Cut Ribbon On New Content Studio at Metro Boys and Girls, WSB-TV (Georgia) This week, superstar Usher visited the Whitehead Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta, Georgia, to unveil a new content studio he donated featuring soundboards, mics, computers and other audio equipment. The...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/11/24