Weekly Media Roundup: January 24, 2024

'Articulate Their Pain': Preventing Teen Suicide Through the Power of Music, Spectrum News 1 (North Carolina)

DDAAT-App, a mental health nonprofit with an afterschool program in Charlotte, North Carolina, is partnering with The Bridge, a music studio, to give students access to recording equipment and music coaching. Program leaders say the goal is to provide students a space to be creative and express their emotions. It’s part of a broader effort to prevent teen suicide, which is the second leading cause of death for teens in the state. “I'll teach the knowledge I have, how to record, the art of recording, and see what they take away from it," music engineer Elijah Cain told Spectrum News 1. “Pretty much teaching them how to have an outlet and how to use music as a tool to cope, almost get their pain out, articulate their pain.”

How CHOP's GRIT Program is Helping Young People Experiencing Trauma, ABC Action News (Pennsylvania)

At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Growing Resilience in Teens(GRIT)  program, teenagers are learning how to cope with trauma through peer support groups. More than 400 teenagers participated in the program last year, through referrals from their afterschool program or medical provider. “We have seen a reduction in the stigma of getting support after loss. Youth, specifically in high schools, they are more comfortable talking about it,” Dr. Vanesa Karamanian, director of Children’s Hospital’s Healthier Together program, told ABC Action News. GRIT partners with five Philadelphia area schools, offering mental health counseling and support to students and their families.

After School Care Now Provided by the Boys & Girls Club at Enlace Academy, WRTV (Indiana)

To help address the need for more affordable afterschool programming, the Boys & Girls Club is opening a new afterschool program at Enlace Academy in Indianapolis and is limiting the fees to $25 per year per student. “A lot of their families were hearing $50 a week per kid. That’s a lot if you are struggling to provide for your family,” Enlace Principal Stephanie Campos-Johnson told WRTV. “What we find here is with $25 a year, our kids are able to have programs and field trips and the kids are growing as a person.” The Boys & Girls Club currently has more than 800 students on waiting lists at its before- and afterschool programs throughout central Indiana.

After-School Program Connects Mothers, Daughters Through Learning STEM Skills Together, WPXI 11 (Pennsylvania)

At the Rankin Community Center in Rankin, Pennsylvania, fourth and fifth grade girls work side-by-side with their moms to build robots and explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. The afterschool program is the result of a partnership between Woodland Hills School District and VEX Robotics. “You hear all the time that there aren’t enough women in these technical fields, so it’s awesome they are being exposed to this,” mother Jill Porter-School told WPXI 11. In addition to the community center, the program is partnering with rec centers, libraries and other community organizations.