Weekly Media Roundup: May 4, 2022

Hogansville Hosts 5K Race to Benefit After School Program, Pioneer Youth, LaGrange Daily News (Georgia)

The city of Hogansville, Georgia hosted the first annual Run HGVL 5K race to support Pioneer Youth, an afterschool youth center. The center opened in January and offers free afterschool programing, including educational games, mentoring and movie nights. “We wanted it to be a physical, safe place for kids to come after school and hang out and gain a solid relationship with good adults who can mentor them,” Pioneer Youth program director Emilee Abraham told LaGrange Daily News.

Through Community Partnerships, Hartford Schools Meet Myriad Needs — From Food to Uniforms, Child Care, Martial Arts and Mindfulness, Hartford Courant (Connecticut)

With the support of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford, the Thirman L. Milner Middle School in Hartford, Connecticut is a full-service community school offering an afterschool program, a food and supplies pantry and parenting classes for local families. “How can we come together to provide all the different types of services a student may need? It goes beyond academics. ... It’s focused on the whole child,” Milner Middle School Principal Leanardo Watson told the Hartford Courant. Catholic Charities staff work within the school building and run the afterschool program and newly opened Milner Market.

City Lands $175,000 ‘Adventure’ Grant, The Mount Airy News (North Carolina)

This summer, 60 middle schoolers in Mount Airy, North Carolina will take part in a robust summer learning program run by Mount Airy Parks and Recreation. The students will explore careers, learn about North Carolina’s history, develop their artistic abilities, visit state parks and more. The program is free thanks to funding from a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, and program leaders hope to build on the success of a similar program that took place last year. “The summer of 2021 was one of the most-impactful summers in the history of Reeves Community Center and Mount Airy Parks and Recreation,” Director Peter Raymer told the Mount Airy News.

Barbara Haas Column: After-School Programs Make an Invaluable Impact, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)

In a recent guest column for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Barbara Haas, a librarian at T.C. Boushall Middle School in Richmond, Virginia, shared her unique experience as an afterschool program provider with NextUp RVA and the invaluable impact of her Girls Book Group on the students she engages with. "The relationships I built with my students in our afterschool time led them to want to spend more time in the library during the day. And not surprisingly, those students who are excited about what is going on in school come to school more often," she writes. Seventy-nine percent of students who actively participate in NextUp RVA improved or maintained their school attendance throughout high school.