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Weekly Media Roundup: March 20, 2024

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Weekly Media Roundup: March 20, 2024

Matthew McConaughey and ASU Are Helping an Arizona School District. Here's How, Arizona Republic (Arizona)

Matthew McConaughey and Arizona State University (ASU) have teamed up to help a Phoenix-area school district apply for federal afterschool funding included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The actor created the Greenlights Grant Initiative to help connect school districts with grant writing support so they can secure the new funds, especially rural districts with fewer dedicated resources for grant writing. ASU Professor Sarah Lindstrom Johnson is leading a team of students to write grant applications to create afterschool programs at five campuses in the Glendale Elementary School District. “I thought I was addressing a really important gap in making sure the access to these funds — even access to the competition for these funds — is equitable,” Lindstrom Johnson told the Arizona Republic.

Durham Public Schools Opens Applications Monday For New After-School Care Program 'Lottery' Amid Staffing Shortages, WRAL (North Carolina)

Parents in Durham, North Carolina now must enter a lottery system to enroll their children in the Durham Public Schools afterschool program. “Durham aftercare going to a lottery, to me, feels like the white flag of surrender of actually fixing the problem that has been going on for years now,” parent Katherine Goldstein told WRAL. The afterschool program increased in popularity after the public school system changed the elementary school schedule to an earlier release time of 2:15 pm. Nearly 300 students are on the current wait list.

California Schools Face Funding Uncertainty as COVID-19 Relief Expires, KQED (California)

In addition to federal COVID relief funding ending in September, many school districts across California are also grappling with staffing issues, declining enrollment, absenteeism, and budget constraints and need to find new funding sources for popular programs. “It’s not like the [2008] Great Recession, but I think the challenges are greater now,” Julien Lafortune, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California told KQED. “A lot of the academic progress we made was erased by the pandemic.” The San Bernardino City Unified School District in California used COVID relief funding to support free afterschool programming at each of its schools and plans to utilize state block grant money to offset funding cuts to the successful afterschool programs that have improved students’ grades and attendance.                       

New Esports Lounge Opens at Boys & Girls Club in Eastpointe, Roseville-Eastepointe Eastsider (Michigan)

Thanks to a partnership with the Detroit Red Wings hockey team and the Children’s Foundation, students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan’s (BGCSM) Eastpointe Club now have access to an e-sports and gaming lounge. Two Detroit Red Wings players joined the ribbon cutting for the lounge, where students will learn to run tournaments through EliteGamingLIVE, a league that leverages e-sports to spark student interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). “This partnership will absolutely bring about positive changes, creating new opportunities and pathways for the youth not only in sports and technology, but with any career path they decide to take,” BGCSM President and CEO Shawn H. Wilson told the Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider.

Weekly Media Roundup: October 9, 2024

What Do Teens Do After School? Utica Hoping They'll Head to Parkway Recreation Center, Utica Observer Dispatch (New York) This fall, Parkway Recreation Center in Utica, New York will open a free afterschool program for teenagers, providing them a safe space to engage in leadership...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      10/09/24

Weekly Media Roundup: October 2, 2024

Minneapolis, St. Paul Educators Rally as Pandemic-Era Funding for Arts, After-School Programs Dries Up, WCCO-TV (Minnesota) As federal COVID relief funding winds down, parents, educators and lawmakers rallied at Adams Immersion Elementary School in St. Paul to call on lawmakers to prevent...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      10/02/24

Weekly Media Roundup: September 25, 2024

Beaufort County Innovative Afterschool Program Lands $2.3M Grant from Coastal Community Foundation, Post and Courier (South Carolina) Thanks to a $2.3 million Catalyst Grant, the largest ever awarded by the Coastal Community Foundation, the UNITED (Uniting Neighbors for Instructional...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      09/25/24

Weekly Media Roundup: September 18, 2024

In Visit to Detroit, Usher Praises Boys & Girls Club After-School Programs, Detroit Free Press (Michigan) Last week, R&B artist Usher held “Usher’s Club Takeover” at the Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan in Detroit. At the two-day event, more than 1,500...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      09/18/24

Weekly Media Roundup: September 11, 2024

Philadelphia Program Allows Students to Tap into Healing Power of Music, WHYY (Pennsylvania) Students in afterschool programs across Philadelphia are expressing themselves and processing difficult emotions through songwriting thanks to Beyond The Bars, a local nonprofit. Matt Kerr founded the...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      09/11/24

Weekly Media Roundup: September 4, 2024

Edwardsburg Launches Before and After School Care Program on First Day of Classes, WNDU (Michigan) Camp Fire River Bend is opening a new before-school and afterschool program for students in kindergarten through fifth grade in Edwardsburg, Michigan, and it already has a waitlist....

BY: Magen Eissenstat      09/04/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 28, 2024

Anonymous Donor Saves Troy After-School Program, News 10 (New York) For 45 years, the Ark has provided a safe, enriching afterschool program for students in Troy, New York. But when the program lost a grant that covered 90 percent of its budget, Executive Director Penny Holmes worried it would...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/28/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 21, 2024

Madison Out-of-School Time (MOST) to Recognize Outstanding Youth Workers for Their Dedication and Creativity Supporting Youth, Madison 365 (Wisconsin) Next week, Madison, Wisconsin Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway will honor 11 afterschool staff members as Madison-area Out-of-School Time (MOST)...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/21/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 14, 2024

Virginia Designates Additional Aid for At-Risk Students, Virginia Mercury (Virginia) Beginning this fall, Virginia schools will have an additional $180 million per year to support at-risk students. A 2023 study found that Virginia provided less state funding for at-risk students than the...

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/14/24

Weekly Media Roundup: August 7, 2024

Chicago Touts After-School Program Growth But Cuts Funding, Chalkbeat Weeks before the school year begins, many Chicago afterschool programs are facing dramatic funding cuts as federal COVID funds wind down and Chicago Public Schools is allocating fewer resources to out-of-school time programs....

BY: Magen Eissenstat      08/07/24