Weekly Media Roundup: June 14, 2023

‘Be the Change:’ How a Local Teen Center Turns Around the Lives of Young People, CBS 47 (Florida)

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida’s Ed White Teen Center in Jacksonville, teens connect with mentors, get academic support and explore their interests through hands-on activities such as music production and robotics. Recent graduate Janiya Early says the Center’s support helped her pursue her goals and taught her how to ‘be the change’ she wanted to see. “People thought I was going to go down the wrong road. They didn’t really see a bright future for me because of how I acted… [The Teen Center] helped me ‘be the change,’” Early told CBS 47. Early graduated with honors this year and will attend Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University next fall. She plans to pursue a career as a criminal defense attorney.

Q&A: Boys & Girls Clubs – Alaska CEO Jen Patronas on What It’s Like to Run an Afterschool Program in the Arctic, Youth Today

In Selawik, Alaska, a town of fewer than 800 people four miles north of the Arctic Circle, the Boys & Girls Club provides meals, internet access, workforce training, mental health support, and more for children in the local Iñupiat Eskimo community. The Club’s manager is also the village’s mayor, a tribal leader, and a school board member. The afterschool program offers culturally relevant programming such as berry picking, beading and caribou processing. “We did a survey when I first came and 89 percent of our kids said that we saved their life in some way. So to me, that’s why I’m here, and that’s why my staff does the job that they do,” Boys & Girls Clubs – Alaska CEO Jen Patronas told Youth Today.

Federal Grant May Ease YMCA Labor Crunch, For Now, Falmouth Enterprise (Massachusetts)

Due to limited affordable housing in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, many employers are having difficulty hiring and retaining staff. To address growing wait lists and a labor shortage, the YMCA Cape Cod is allocating recently awarded federal grant funding to provide housing stipends to employees. “We’re just barely hanging in there with staffing,” YMCA Cape Cod Chief Executive Officer Stacie Peugh told the Falmouth Enterprise. “Every program that we run in Falmouth — all have wait lists.” The YMCA hopes to hire ten full-time and 21 part-time employees with the $405,000 American Rescue Plan Act funding.

Bedford County Emphasizes Importance of After School and Summer Programs, WTAJ (Pennsylvania)

At the After 3 Summer Camp in Bedford, Pennsylvania, middle school students are eager to participate in the summer activities because they help shape the curriculum. Activities include a hands-on DNA lesson from a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Biomedical Research, field trips to Canoe Creek and art classes. “I’m very blessed to be a principal where we have a provider that helps us with these afterschool programs,” Bedford Middle School Principal Kevin Windows told WTAJ. “Not everybody has that.” Both Bedford Middle School’s afterschool and summer programs are supported through county funds, and officials hope to expand the programs to other schools.