Weekly Media Roundup: July 3, 2019

MaliVai Washington Foundation a lifesaver for at-risk kids, Jacksonville.com (Florida)

What began as a small tennis camp is today a multifaceted afterschool and summer program giving 200 youth from economically challenged families a safe haven and the chance to improve their academic performance and gain life skills. Once ranked the No. 11 tennis player in the world, MaliVai Washington opened his Youth Foundation in 2000. In June, The Players – a golf tournament associated with the PGA Tour – gave it a $500,000 grant, which will help the Foundation open a teen center and double the number of students it serves. In addition to tennis lessons, the program provides etiquette classes to students who otherwise might not know how to shake hands, time management and social skills, and more. Washington “has invested infrastructure, time and resources in youth in the most underserved area to have a better life,” Jared Rice, executive director of The Players, told Jacksonville.com. “That’s very powerful.”

He got into trouble for fighting as a kid. Now his boxing program is helping students stay on the right path, CNN

After becoming the National Collegiate Boxing Champion in 2009, spending two years with Teach for America, and earning a master’s degree in secondary education, Jamyle Cannon founded The Bloc, a nonprofit afterschool program. The co-ed program has helped more than 300 students in three Chicago schools by providing homework help, mentors, trips to farmers’ markets, and visits to colleges. The program has a 100 percent high school graduation and college acceptance rate. ““Homework always comes first. There is mandatory study time. We have one-on-one tutoring. We push them academically, help them out socially, and are a resource for them in all the other areas of their lives,” Cannon told CNN. Cannon was named a CNN Hero for this work.

Learning about nature is hands-on at Reed Creek, Augusta Chronicle (Georgia)

Students of all ages are enjoying educational, fun activities at the Reed Creek Nature Park and Interpretive Center in Martinez, Georgia this summer. They include “simply science” Fridays, when students learn about cells, acids and bases; nocturnal Thursdays, when students come at 8 pm to study owls, frogs and insects that emerge after dark; and skills-building activities, that include collecting water samples to measure pH levels and check for macroinvertebrates. “I want to be a zoologist,” Paisley Jones, a middle school student, told the Augusta Chronicle after finishing camp at Reed Creek. The Center offers afterschool programs during the school year but expands its programming during the summer months.

Kids & Company offers program for children's minds and bodies, NonpareilOnline.com (Iowa)

To combat summer learning loss, promote reading at home and address food insecurity, Kids & Company has begun a Read and Feed program at three of its summer learning sites – two elementary schools and one middle school. Each Friday, students in the program select two free books to take home; they are also given a meal and snack pack for the weekend. Food Bank for the Heartland provides the backpacks with food and most of the books are donated. Kids & Co. Program Director Greg Smith said, “We had about 5,500 books donated this year, which is crazy!” The Read and Feed program complements the school district’s work to improve reading proficiency for its students.