Weekly Media Roundup: February 9, 2022

After School Arts Program Collecting Teddy Bears for Senior Care Facilities Ahead of Valentine’s Day, WILX (Michigan)

In Lansing, Michigan, students at the Hope Central Urban Arts afterschool program are busy practicing songs they have composed and collecting teddy bears for their upcoming Valentine’s Day concerts at senior citizen centers. “Hope Center teaches the performing and technical arts in an affordable afterschool program,” Hope Central Urban Arts Founder AnnaMarie Horn told WILX. “We love to arm them with instruments and moments and opportunity for creativity where they are the content makers and they get to express themselves.” The students will perform their original songs at several local senior care facilities and offer each resident and caregiver a teddy bear to let them know they are loved.

Students Find Identity and Purpose at Riverzedge, The Valley Breeze (Rhode Island)

At the Riverzedge Arts afterschool program in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, teens develop new skills and express themselves by designing, screen printing and selling totes, shirts, and hats, tending to a community garden, creating public art projects, building furniture and more. The program provides students with holistic support, including tutoring and free groceries, and is working to connect students to mental health professionals as well. Students are paid to participate in the program so it is accessible to those who might otherwise need to work a part-time job to support their families. “We’re really trying to identify what we can do to help [students] and then meet those needs,” Communications and Development Assistant Geo Darrow told the Valley Breeze.

Wallingford Boy & Girls Club Launches Learning Center with $850K Grant, Record Journal (Connecticut)

An $850,000 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant will enable the Ulbrich Boys & Girls Club in Connecticut to provide robust afterschool and summer programming for students at two Wallingford Public Schools elementary schools. Seventy students have already registered for the new program, which will include science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) activities thanks to a partnership with Goodwin College.  “Compared to our typical after school drop-in program, this is really a full-year program with after school, summer and also kind of a wraparound with the family as well,” Don Crouch, resource development & marketing officer, told the Record Journal. “Especially with learning loss during the pandemic the last couple years, this is definitely going to be a game changer for those two schools.”

Florence 1 Schools Expand Arts, STEM Programs with $700K+ in Federal Grants, WMBF (South Carolina)

Thanks to two federal grants totaling $770,000, the Florence 1 School District in South Carolina will be able to purchase new musical instruments and art supplies for its afterschool programs. “The grant will provide funds to make fine arts programs more accessible at elementary schools across the district,” Erick Figueras, director of F1S Arts and Innovative Programs, told WMBF. “We are particularly excited to bring band to McLaurin Elementary and expand support for the band program at Greenwood Elementary.” The new instruments will be available for students to borrow for free throughout the year, helping them avoid costly rental fees.