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Weekly Media Roundup: November 24, 2021

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Weekly Media Roundup: November 24, 2021

'We're All Family Here': Columbus Community Center Pilots Program to Connect with Students, The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

At a new afterschool program in Columbus, Ohio, seventh- and eighth-graders get academic support, work on goal-setting, play sports, connect with mentors and more. The program is the result of a partnership between Actions that Matter for Youth, Woodward Park Middle School and Woodward Park Community Center and is funded through the American Rescue Plan. “We’re building trust and long-term relationships. It’s about building up the student as a whole person,” DeAndra Harrison, the founder of Actions that Matter for Youth, told the Columbus Dispatch. “Middle school is such a key age and a tough time. But everyone is really seen as equal here."

Wood River Afterschool Program Provides Fun While Learning, Grand Island Independent (Nebraska)

Each afternoon at Wood River Elementary School’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers program in Nebraska, students participate in a variety of art, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and sports clubs as well as receive homework support. High school students help staff the program and assist with developing new activities geared to engage and educate the younger students. “Most of what we plan for our club activities is actually planned by our high school staff,” Program Coordinator Stephanie Shearer told the Grand Island Independent.  Due to adult staffing shortages, Shearer depends on the support of the teenagers while also noting they are wonderful role models for the elementary school students.

Participation in Colorado After School Nutrition Programs Increased in 2020, Kiowa County Press (Colorado)

Despite school and program closures during the pandemic, Colorado’s Afterschool Nutrition Programs provided afterschool meals to an additional 37,000 students per day in 2020 compared to 2019. Crystal FitzSimons, Director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs at Food Research & Action Center noted that afterschool programs quickly responded to the need in their communities by providing remote educational support, curbside food pickups and meal deliveries to families. “[Afterschool programs] were doing virtual, either activities or they were sending activities home with families to do,” FitzSimons told the Kiowa County Press. “And so they were trying to support educational enrichment at a time when so many kids were experiencing learning disruptions.”

Boys and Girls Clubs in Las Vegas Offer Mental Health Counseling, Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)

Last month, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada launched group therapy in its Las Vegas-area afterschool programs. The initiative aims to help children process their emotions and develop social and emotional skills, as well as to screen students for mental health challenges and provide individual and family counseling when needed. “Transportation is the biggest challenge because for a working family; how do they get the child to the [therapy] appointment on a regular basis?,” CEO Andy Bischel told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They can get them maybe once or twice, but it’s consistency that really is important. If we bring the counselors in, we eliminate that because we have the kids in the clubs.”

Weekly Media Roundup: February 26, 2025

Discover How the Leaps After School Program is Transforming Lives at Harrison Elementary, News Channel 9 (Tennessee) At Harrison Elementary’s Leaps After School Program in Chattanooga, Tennessee, students are publishing a newspaper focusing on Black historical figures to be displayed...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/26/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 19, 2025

Durham Teens Fight for After-School Program Funding Amid Youth Gun Violence: 'My Safe Space,' ABC 11 (North Carolina) In Durham, North Carolina, teenagers rallied together to urge Durham City Council members to increase funding for afterschool programs, sharing how critical these...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/19/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 12, 2025

'He Invests His Own Money': After School Program Started by Pasco School Employee Still Going Strong, WFTS-TV (Florida) In the 1980s, Eugene Scott founded an afterschool program called This Is How We Do It to provide food, music, dance, mentorship and more to students in his Pasco County...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/12/25

Weekly Media Roundup: February 5, 2025

Claysburg-Kimmel Touts New Programs for Students, Altoona Mirror (Pennsylvania) Students at the Bulldog After-School Club in Claysburg, Pennsylvania are participating in new educational activities with a Beam mobile projector that transforms the center into an interactive visual playground. The...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      02/05/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 29, 2025

Afterschool Program Introduces West Columbia Students to Technology, The Facts (Texas) Students at West Columbia Elementary in Texas are taking part in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities in the new Robocatters afterschool program, which already has a long...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/29/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 22, 2025

Another Year, Another Long Waitlist for BUSD After-School Program, Berkeleyside (California) Due to ongoing staffing shortages, more than 200 students are currently waitlisted for afterschool programs at Berkeley Unified School District. Parents in the district’s PTA Collaborative on...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/22/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 15, 2025

New 4-H Program Will Bring STEAM to Area Students, KNEB (Nebraska) Students in rural Expanding Learning Opportunity programs in Nebraska are exploring aerospace, electronics, engineering, robotics and more thanks to a partnership with 4-H. The Think Make Create Lab is a six-by-12 mobile trailer...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/15/25

Weekly Media Roundup: January 8, 2025

Parks and Recreation Secures Grant to Bring Physical Activity Education to Youth in Afterschool Program, WBIW (Indiana) More than 50 students in the Banneker Afterschool program in Bloomington, Indiana are taking part in fun physical activities this year led by Indiana University School of...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      01/08/25

Weekly Media Roundup: December 18, 2024

Mason City YMCA Teaching Social and Emotional Skills to Kids, News-Press Now (Iowa) Students in the Mason City YMCA afterschool program in Iowa practice communication, emotional regulation, empathy and more in twice-weekly social and emotional learning sessions, learning, for instance, to take...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/18/24

Weekly Media Roundup: December 11, 2024

Usher Helps Cut Ribbon On New Content Studio at Metro Boys and Girls, WSB-TV (Georgia) This week, superstar Usher visited the Whitehead Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta, Georgia, to unveil a new content studio he donated featuring soundboards, mics, computers and other audio equipment. The...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      12/11/24