Weekly Media Roundup: May 28, 2025

After-School Programs, a Boon for Learning, Could Face Trump Cuts, NPR

Each day, students in the REACH afterschool program in Skowhegan, Maine are trying new foods, learning to cook, programming robots, rehearsing theater productions, and more, thanks to federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) funding. Advocates are sounding the alarm that the proposed elimination of 21CCLC funding would cause enormous harm to student attendance, academic performance and wellbeing. “Having a place for our youth to go to be engaged, sparking joy and learning, is a great way to keep kiddos off our streets and out of trouble,” REACH director and Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Ambassador Dawn Fickett told NPR. “I almost can't imagine our school district without a robust after-school program. I could see it really hindering the progress of our community if we didn't have safe and supportive places for our youth to be, and places that help support their academic success.”

Program Ensures Taste of Cincinnati Leftovers Don't End Up in the Dump, WCPO (Ohio)

For the past five years, Last Mile Food Rescue volunteers in Cincinnati, Ohio have gathered food that would otherwise go to waste from vendors, restaurants and large events such as the recent Taste of Cincinnati festival and have taken the food donations to afterschool programs, soup kitchens and food pantries. To simplify the process, Last Mile Food Rescue created an app for volunteers that identifies partners ready to donate food and over 130 organizations that will receive the donations and distribute them to people in need. “There’s not necessarily a food desert,” volunteer Erica Johnson told WCPO. “The food is just in the wrong place, and if I can volunteer, you’re basically an Uber for the food. It’s very easy to do but it makes such a difference.”

Oakland School Board Restores After-School Funding, The Oaklandside (California)

Recently, afterschool advocates, parents and students rallied in Oakland, California to protest the Oakland Unified school board’s decision to cut funding for afterschool programs next year. “. It increases attendance, it reduces behavioral suspensions and expulsions, and it closes the achievement gap between low- and high-income families,” Jeff Abercrombie, a parent at Laurel Elementary, told The Oaklandside. “Cutting afterschool programs is a disproportionate hit to the families that we need to be supporting the most right now.” Last week, the school board held a three-hour meeting to hear from constituents and ultimately reversed its decision to cut the critical funding.

Macomb Students Benefit From $60 Million Regional Summer School Program, Macomb Daily (Georgia)

This summer, more than 30,000 elementary and middle schoolers will take part in Summer Discovery learning programs across 188 sites in the Macomb Area. Now in its second year, the Summer Discovery initiative is supported by funding from the Ballmer Group and offers a wide variety of hands-on activities, including music, coding, sports, outdoor adventure, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) projects and more.  “As a parent I am grateful for this summer mentorship program. My two sons, Kyon, 7, and Khalil, 10, had the incredible opportunity to engage with dedicated mentors who not only provided leadership developmental skills and training in mathematics but also served as positive role models,” Kiada Shanklin told Macomb Daily.