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Weekly Media Roundup: February 28, 2024

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Weekly Media Roundup: February 28, 2024

Program Designed to Boost Reading Rates in NW Tallahassee is Reaching More Students, WTXL (Florida)

At Springwood Elementary School’s afterschool program in Tallahassee, Florida, students are paired with volunteers from United Way’s ReadingPals program, working together to improve their reading skills. “A lot of times our students don’t have resources outside of that school hour,” LeeAnn Hewett, a reading coach at Springwood Elementary School, told WTXL. “We’re always trying to find those special moments to make kids be inspired through literacy.” Last year, 84 percent of students participating in the ReadingPals program increased their reading literacy level. United Way hopes to expand the program to additional Tallahassee-Leon County afterschool programs.

New Beckley Salvation Army Community Center to Soon Open Its Doors, Metro News (West Virginia)

This spring, the Salvation Army will partner with the Boys & Girls Club of America to open an afterschool program at its new state-of-the-art community center in Beckley, West Virginia. The program will provide students with healthy meals, academic support and a chance to play basketball, pickleball, and much more in a safe environment. “We want to provide basically that afterschool program that feeds them, it gives them homework help, we call it Power Hour,” Salvation Army Captain Liz Blusiewicz told Metro News. “We also want to give them emotional support. A lot of at-risk youth have a hard time expressing emotions.” The new facility will also include an emergency food pantry, case management services, older adult programs, and fitness classes.

The Opportunity Project In Tulsa Highlights Importance Of Access To Afterschool Programs, 92.9 The River (Oklahoma)

The Opportunity Project in Tulsa, Oklahoma works directly with afterschool providers to increase program quality, collect data and share findings, advocate for funding and more. The organization’s research found that last school year, students enrolled in afterschool programs were 43 percent less likely to be chronically absent. The organization is working to sound the alarm that when COVID relief funding expires, the number of free afterschool programs available to Tulsa students will fall from 350 to 75. "A few months ago I was observing an afterschool program and I had a chance to chat with a student…. She said to me, 'If I wasn't here, I'd probably be home alone.' The work of The Opportunity Project connects youth like her to experiences that are dynamic and enriching, and also safe and supervised," Executive Director Lauren Sivak told 92.9 The River.

Afterschool Programs Can Help Clean Energy Sector Meet Workforce Needs, CommonWealth Beacon (Massachusetts)

In a recent guest column for the CommonWealth Beacon, Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership Director of Outreach and Engagement Chloe Anne McElligott argues afterschool programs play an important role in building the talent pipeline needed to transition to clean energy and address climate change. “In afterschool programs, kids don’t have the pressure to pass a test and get good grades — they get to work together and learn through trial and error, creating strong networks of support to increase their persistence on their trajectories to higher education and careers in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math],” McElligott writes. She calls on the Massachusetts state legislature to create an out-of-school time opportunity fund to provide long-term funding so programs can help students explore careers in STEM.

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