Weekly Media Roundup: October 27, 2021

Former Teacher Creates After-School Program at Family Business, Columbus Dispatch (Mississippi)

A Starkville, Mississippi teacher reimagined her family’s skating rink as an afterschool program for elementary schoolers. Skate Odyssey has been owned by Harley Middleton’s family since 1988 and is now a place where nearly 150 children come after school to skate and take part in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities led by Middleton, her staff and guest speakers. “I think that this program has made an impact on the community because the fact that we have so many kids coming every day just shows it was a huge need,” Middleton told the Columbus Dispatch. “My first day of sign ups, I had 34 cars in the parking lot 30 minutes before we opened sign-ups.” Middleton also launched a summer program due to the afterschool program’s popularity.

Nonprofit Assisting Homeless Families Unveils New After School Care Facility, WACH (South Carolina)

After four years of development and preparation, the Homeless No More program revealed a 5,000 square foot building on McFadden Street in Columbia, South Carolina to provide afterschool care for children and courses on life skills for parents. The new program will serve 70 children and their parents and is part of ‘Putting Families First’ initiative to increase support for families experiencing homelessness. “I’m looking forward to doing my homework in some of the places in there, because I think it will be more peaceful,” Yeyetzita Hernandez, a student in the Homeless No More program, told WACH-TV. “There’s a lot of space, and all the kids will have a lot of time to do anything that they would like.”

Caney Valley Afterschool Program Finds Walking and Learning are Better Together, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (Oklahoma)

Caney Valley Elementary School has introduced a new program for third to fifth grade students

that combines exercise with learning. The SLAM (Service Learning and Academics Matter) afterschool program received a $4,900 grant from a Walking Classroom donor to purchase WalkKits so students can to audio while their teacher guides them on a brisk 20-minute walk. The Walking Classroom provides students and teachers with an outlet to exercise while learning about topics such as health literacy and character values. “I think that the kids will benefit from the extra activity. Some children need to move while they learn and this gives them a great opportunity," third grade teacher Stacy Corder told the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. The Walking Classroom program was founded by a teacher in 2011 and draws on the positive connection between exercise and cognitive function.

New Partnership in Tioga County to Create After School Program, WBNG (New York)

Thanks to a new partnership between the Tioga County Boys & Girls Club and the Owego Apalachin Central School District, third through sixth graders in Owego, New York will take part in a new afterschool program. “It’s an expansion of what we can do at the school district and extending it out into the community,” Superintendent Corey Green told WBNG. “Anywhere from intramural physical activity, to STEM, to the arts, science-related games.” The program plans to work closely with student to provide programming that interest them.