Weekly Media Roundup: March 16, 2022

Open Hearth Facilitates Substitute Pool for Child Care Providers, The Valley Reporter (Vermont)

In response to growing staffing shortages in Mad River Valley, Vermont, Open Hearth Community Center has created a substitute teacher/child care staffing forum to connect community members to part-time job opportunities at afterschool programs and child care centers. “We are looking for retired professionals or people who love working with children to offer their time and skills a couple of days a month,” April Smith, Open Hearth board member, told The Valley Reporter. “We want to make it as easy as possible for community members to connect with local child care providers.” 

Open Hearth Facilitates Substitute Pool for Child Care Providers, The Valley Reporter (Vermont)

In response to growing staffing shortages in Mad River Valley, Vermont, Open Hearth Community Center has created a substitute teacher/childcare staffing forum to connect community members to part-time job opportunities at afterschool programs and child care centers. “We are looking for retired professionals or people who love working with children to offer their time and skills a couple of days a month,” April Smith, Open Hearth board member, told The Valley Reporter. “We want to make it as easy as possible for community members to connect with local child care providers.” 

Norwalk ACTS Launches Application to Easily Locate Summer, After-School Programs, CT Insider (Connecticut)

Using the new Out-of-School Time Program Locator created by Norwalk ACTS, parents can filter their searches of more than 40 afterschool and summer programs in Norwalk, Connecticut by price, time, age of students served, and more to find a program that meets their family’s needs. “We designed the program locator to ensure that all Norwalk young people are connected to year-round, meaningful out-of-school experiences,” Jennifer Barahona, CEO of Norwalk ACTS, told CT Insider. “We hope this resource helps make it easier to connect families to program providers.” To make the application as accessible and easy to use as possible, Norwalk ACTS held parent feedback sessions and developed Spanish and Haitian-Creole versions.

Girls Inc. Memphis is Helping Girls Succeed, WREG-TV (Tennessee)

More than 2,000 students in Memphis, Tennessee benefit from afterschool programming provided by Girls Inc. At the program, they connect with mentors, get academic support and develop leadership skills. Girls Inc. Memphis recently commissioned a survey that showed that a high number of girls in Tennessee are facing mental health challenges and many have experienced sexual assault. CEO Lisa Moore told WREG-TV she hopes this research will inspire more community members to get involved in supporting youth: “What we’re really going to be doing is challenging the community to look at the data and think about what can I do in my sphere of influence…. What is your sphere of influence and what can you do to maybe improve some of the data points that will be illuminated?”