Weekly Media Roundup: December 4, 2019

Mentoring Matters: ‘A Soccer Life Foundation’ Players Share Passion for Sport With Community, CBS Miami (Florida)

Last year, two high school students created a foundation that brings soccer instruction to an afterschool program in Miami, Florida. Twin brothers Sebastian and Daniel Mateu created A Soccer Life Foundation to expose students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to soccer. The all-volunteer organization hosts 10-week clinics at an afterschool program at which students learn the fundamentals of the sport while staying fit, building relationships with mentors and having fun. The foundation also awards scholarships for students to play on competitive teams. “Whenever we come here and walk through the doors and tell the kids to get changed, they get really excited,” Sebastian Mateu told CBS Miami.

Afterschool Program Targets Math, Science, Opelika Auburn News (Alabama)

I Am My Brother’s Keeper (IAMBK), an afterschool program in Auburn, Alabama, connects elementary school students with junior high, high school and college student mentors. Students from Auburn University help students with their homework, and local junior high and high school students expose the younger students to new opportunities through dance, art projects and more. The program also includes nutrition education and fitness activities. “I just really love how I Am My Brother’s Keeper treats you as family,” Kaleigh Yancey, a high school volunteer, told the Opelika Auburn News.

New MAPS Media Lab at Holter Museum Offers Kids Free Filmmaking, Graphic Design Classes, Helena Independent Record (Montana)

Students in Helena, Montana now have access to state-of-the-art film and graphic design technology and instruction through the new MAPS media lab afterschool programs at the Holter Art Museum. Funded in part through a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, the free programs help students develop their creative voices and technical skills regardless of prior experience. Last year, a student film produced through a MAPS program won a top national high school film award, and the organization has been recognized as one the top 12 creative youth organizations in the United States. “We teach them how to tell their story,” Executive Director Clare Ann Harff told the Independent Record. “We teach them how to solve a problem in their community or how to shed light on an issue they need to share with the rest of the world.”

After School Program Receives $2,500 City Donation, Schuyler Sun (Nebraska)

In the Schuyler Community Schools’ Afterschool Program, students learn photography and dance, work on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) projects, cook their own food and more. The City of Schuyler recently recognized the program’s work with a $2,500 donation. “Those are 300 - 500 kids who might not have someone at home (or) might be running around on the streets,” Schuyler Mayor Jon Knutson told the Schuyler Sun. “We thought that this might be a worthwhile cause and a city betterment.”