Weekly Media Roundup: January 19, 2021

More Than Just an Afterschool Program: Española Nonprofit Plans for Expansion, KRQE (New Mexico)

Thanks to a $100,000 matching grant from the Thoma Art Foundation, Moving Arts Española   will soon open a teen center where middle and high school students can access career prep and mental health services as well as a wide variety of visual, performance and culinary arts classes. The Española, New Mexico nonprofit has provided arts-based afterschool programming and mentorship to students for 13 years. “It’s a family of friends and mentors,” middle schooler Jonathan Sanchez, who has been participating in Moving Arts drama and cooking programs for five years, told KRQE. “I’ve made friends there I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I’ve done things I wouldn’t have done without Moving Arts.”

Phoenix Recreation Center is 'a Lifeline' for Kids with Disabilities During the Pandemic, Arizona Central (Arizona)

At Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped (ARCH) afterschool and summer programs in Phoenix, Arizona, students with disabilities take part in hands-on activities designed to promote social and emotional learning, combat isolation during the pandemic, and equip them with life skills. The Center recently purchased more technology such as laptops to provide students a safe, supportive, fully equipped environment to do distance learning. “My daughter’s maturity and behavior has improved so much,” mother Jamie Huff told Arizona Central. “Her social skills improve every day.  Her personal growth has been amazing and Emma’s so proud of herself.”

Investing in Mississippi’s Future with STEM Education: What Boys & Girls Clubs are Doing, Clarion Ledger (Mississippi)

Throughout Mississippi, Boys & Girls Clubs facilitate hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities for students who otherwise might not have these experiences. A recent $45,000 STEM Pipeline grant from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America will allow the Clubs to enhance and expand these programs. “Through our after school and summer STEM programs, we can introduce students to skills for the next generation’s workforce…. While the benefits of STEM are not limited to a career path, it is important that we ensure that all children in the state are exposed to STEM activities to promote critical thinking and problem solving while introducing them to a potentially lucrative job field,” Thomas Norman, executive director of the Mississippi Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, wrote in a guest column for the Clarion Ledger.

Students in Centro Hispano's After-School Program Reflect on Fall Semester, WBIR-TV (Tennessee)

Normally, students in the Centro Hispano afterschool program in Knoxville, Tennessee would showcase projects they’ve been working on at family events. This year, due to the pandemic, students instead created original videos at the end of the fall semester to share what they’ve learned with families. In the new semester Centro Hispano will focus on mental and physical health. “We are making our whole semester focused on wellness, broadly speaking, so we’re partnering with Knox County Health Department and implementing a nutrition education program, and our social-emotional curriculum is focused on children from immigrant families,” Director of Youth and Family Engagement Megan Barolet-Fogarty told WBIR-TV.