Weekly Media Roundup: November 12, 2025

YMCA Launches Mental Health Program for 350 Students at 21 After-School Sites, WMTR (New Jersey)

Through its Bright Path Youth Mental Health initiative, the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance is offering a mental health curriculum to build students’ confidence, foster connections and improve students’ well-being at 21 YMCA afterschool programs in New Jersey. The initiative, supported by a $200,000 Horizon Foundation grant, focuses on providing early intervention and support to students in kindergarten through sixth grade. “Thanks to Horizon, our staff are gaining the training and tools to nurture children’s mental well-being right where they already feel at home — in their YMCA afterschool programs,” Julie Gallanty, president and CEO of the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance, told WMTR.

Salt Lake City Strikes Deal to Bring Lost After-School Programs Back to West Side, KSL (Utah)

After shuttering its afterschool program in August due to funding shortfalls, Lied Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salt Lake reopened its doors last week and will continue to provide a safe, enriching program until the end of the school year, thanks to support from Salt Lake City’s Youth and Family Division. “It’s an example of how public entities and community-based organizations can work together to find creative solutions that meet the needs of the kids and families in our neighborhoods,” Amanda Ree Gardner, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, told KSL. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake continues to seek additional funding to sustain the program beyond the school year.

Youth Success Summit Selected to Receive Funding for Several Out of School Programs, Spectrum News 1 (Ohio)

A recent Afterschool Alliance survey found that 86 percent of students in Ohio lack access to afterschool programs. Youth Success Summit is working to fill those gaps with millions in new funding over the next six years for afterschool programs throughout Akron, including programs at The Vincent House, which serves elementary and middle school students. “You can play basketball, you can go outside, you can do anything, and I like that they can help you with your homework, so you get good grades,” middle schooler Dashawn Christian, who participates in an afterschool program at The Vincent House, told Spectrum News 1. “It’s a great place and I really enjoy it.”

‘Detroit Horse Power Has Given Me a Family’: Students Learn Empathy, Confidence Through Horsemanship, Chalkbeat

In Detroit Hose Power’s free afterschool and summer program, students from low-income communities in Detroit learn to ride and care for horses while developing what the program calls “PERCS traits” -- perseverance, empathy, responsible risk-taking, confidence, and self-control. Former public school teacher David Silver founded the program to increase access to the equestrian world, support students with challenges they face outside the classroom, and equip them with social-emotional skills that help them succeed in school and life. For some students, including Le’Airra Jones, the program has sparked interest in careers such as the veterinary field. “Hopefully it inspires other Black girls like me to know that it’s OK to step into those fields where a lot of people don’t look like them,” Jones told Chalkbeat.