Weekly Media Roundup: November 8, 2023

National Grid, Boston Children’s Museum Launch Partnership To Bring Steam to Afterschool Programs Across Massachusetts: Lynn Selected To Pilot New Program, Lynn Journal (Massachusetts)

Thanks to a partnership with National Grid, Boston Children’s Museum will offer a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) professional development course for afterschool program educators in Massachusetts, focusing primarily on providers serving underrepresented communities. Participants will receive a personalized curriculum, hands-on activities, resources, and guidance as well as a stipend. “As we work to combat the climate crisis and advance the clean energy ecosystem in Massachusetts, a STEAM education is critical to developing innovative and creative leaders of tomorrow,” Melissa Lavinson, head of corporate affairs for National Grid New England, told the Lynn Journal. “We are committed to ensuring communities throughout the Commonwealth have access to these learning opportunities, and we are excited to see these programs come to life.” National Grid donated $500,000 to support this three-year program.

Local Nonprofits Partner to Provide Meals to Local Kids, News-Press Now (Missouri)

In response to teachers’ concerns about students struggling with food insecurity, the St. Joseph YMCA in Missouri is partnering with Community Missions to provide dinners to its afterschool program participants each afternoon. Community Missions is a non-profit organization providing housing to homeless men in St. Joseph and Buchanan County. “It’s a wonderful partnership, and I love that [Community Missions volunteers and residents] are taking pride in the meals,” St. Joseph YMCA CEO Tammy Killin told the News-Press NOW. “They’re delivering the meals, and the kids love them.”

Keep After-School Programs Alive Across Illinois, Chicago Sun-Times (Illinois)

Unless lawmakers act, as many as 42,000 students in Illinois could miss out on afterschool programs by next June due to a spending error by the Illinois State Board of Education. The Chicago Sun-Times editorial board is calling on the state legislature and the governor’s office to provide emergency supplemental funding to keep programs running. “Young people all across our state, especially in neighborhoods hard-hit by decades of disinvestment, deserve safe places and programs to keep them engaged and out of trouble,” the editorial board writes.

Baltimore Nonprofit Aims to Curb Youth Crime with Citywide After-School Programs, WYPR (Maryland)

To provide safe and engaging spaces for students and help address rising youth crime rates, 20 schools across Baltimore are providing afterschool programs to more than 650 students in partnership with Elev8 Baltimore, a nonprofit. The programs offer dinner, academic support and activities ranging from dance to drone technology to soccer. Elev8 works to provide students with leadership opportunities and the power to shape their afterschool programs. “When young people don't have opportunities that are engaging, they're going to vote with their feet, and they're going to be on the street,” Elev8 Executive Director Alexandria Warrick Adams told WYPR. “[Students] come to us around things that they want to do and things they want to learn to use their voice to advocate for.”