Weekly Media Roundup: May 6, 2020

Staunton-Augusta Family YMCA Afterschool Program Makes House Calls, Augusta Free Press (Virginia)

On Monday, the Staunton-Augusta Family YMCA Afterschool Adventure Club in Augusta County, Virginia delivered care packages to students. They included handwritten notes, sidewalk chalk, and materials for three science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) projects that staff will lead virtually this week. “The purpose is to connect to our afterschool kids,” Youth and Family Director Ashley Cole told the Augusta Free Press. “We haven’t seen them in several weeks. Hopefully, this will give parents a break, and we can lead projects with the kids virtually.”

Look For the Helpers: The Opportunity Project Assists Families During COVID-19 Pandemic, Tulsa World (Oklahoma)

The Opportunity Project is a nonprofit in Tulsa, Oklahoma that supports more than 80 programs providing out-of-school enrichment to students. During the pandemic, the organization has helped its partners set up phone banks to reach out to families in order to assess their needs, pivot to virtual programming, maintain grant funding, provide professional development to staff and more. “[We’re] really thinking about how [do] we support both young people and the organizations that we know are serving them. [Those organizations] are having that critical link, that relationship link, that we know [is] going to be so important during this pandemic,” Executive Director Caroline Shaw told the Tulsa World.

After-School Programs Help NYC Kids ‘Rock Out’ Across the Boroughs, Fox 5 (New York)

While in-person programming is suspended due to coronavirus, New York Edge, the largest afterschool provider in New York City, is helping students stay connected and express themselves through online arts education. For example, thanks to a partnership with E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, thousands of students are learning the basics of rock and roll online. “We’re kind of sneaking education into fun art and learning stuff for the kids to do. And I'm also teaching them things they can do when they're not sitting with me in front of a screen, in their own time, so they can be creative," Vincent Spencer, comic book storytelling specialist, told Fox 5.

DC Poet-Athletes Prepare to Unleash Creativity in Virtual Poetry Showcase, Despite Coronavirus Crisis, WTOP News (District of Columbia)

DC SCORES, an afterschool program in Washington, D.C., combines soccer, service learning and poetry to support students’ physical fitness, creative expression and character development. The program has continued this mission online during the pandemic via soccer skills videos from U.S. men’s national team player Tyler Boyd, an “At Home Poetry Challenge” from Washington Spirit player Joanna Lohman and more. Last Thursday, students showcased their original poetry in an online performance titled “Our Words Our City.” “When the kids are writing, they are writing about their truths, the things that they see, the things that they feel,” Charity Blackwell, director of creative arts and education, told WTOP News. “It’s a very powerful and vulnerable experience for them.”