Weekly Media Roundup: November 30, 2022

DC Awards Millions in Grants to After-School Programs, WTOP (District of Columbia)

At GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Paso Nuevo afterschool program in Washington, DC, high school students learn the art of storytelling, playwriting and song creation. Thanks to a $95,000 grant from the District’s Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes, GALA Hispanic Theatre can expand and enhance the free afterschool program. “It’s a wonderful grant, because it supports this program that enables us to serve so many of these kids who have no place to go after school, who are often not doing well in school, and who are struggling with disadvantages of language and culture and socioeconomic divides, that make it hard for them to succeed in school,” GALA Hispanic Theatre Executive Director Rebecca Medrano told WTOP. DC’s Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes awarded a total of $16.4 million in grants to 113 local afterschool programs.

EL City Schools Begin New School Enrichment Program, Morning Journal (Ohio)

This fall, the East Liverpool City (ELO) School District in Ohio opened its first afterschool program. ELO Potter Brainery offers STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities, Spanish classes, art programs, athletics and field trips opportunities for third and fourth graders. “It’s basically to help with the COVID learning loss,” ELO City Schools Communications Director Megan Hernandez told the Morning Journal. “Also, we find for a lot of these kids that the safest place for them is school, so the longer they are in school, the better. They are getting dinner and three hours of homework help and enrichment.” The free afterschool program is funded through a 21^st Century Community Learning Centers grant.

After School Programs Work to Close Pandemic-Driven Achievement Gaps for Students of Color, Columbia Missourian (Missouri)

Recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores showed a decline in math and reading achievement nationwide and in Missouri, with Black and Latino students disproportionately impacted. Education leaders say these gaps reflect the enormous challenges students have faced during the pandemic, and afterschool programs such as Centro Latino de Salud and Dream Tree Academy in Columbia are working to help students recover with mentorship, tutoring and holistic supports. For example, at Centro Latino, students work one-on-one with tutors while also taking part in music and other fun hands-on activities. “It was very hard for [my son] to go from going into the classroom to try to focus on an iPad…. With Centro, he has that extra few hours after school to catch up and to have that individual attention with them,” parent Guadalupe Ortiz told the Columbia Missourian.

Mentor Helping Boulder County Students Live Their Dreams, Denver 7 (Colorado)

At the I Have a Dream afterschool program in Boulder County, Colorado, students are paired with caring adult mentors who bond with them over homework, support them through challenges and help them discover their interests and pursue their goals. “We typically start a class when the students are in first and second grade and then we follow them, basically, for 13 years,” Executive Director Dr. Perla Delgado told Denver 7. “It helps students realize their full potential, to see their strengths, to see what their families bring to our communities, and to thrive in our communities. It's an amazing adventure that we have with the students.” Mollie McGill was awarded Denver 7’s “Everyday Hero” award for her work mentoring an eighth grader named Lupita.