Weekly Media Roundup - March 21, 2013

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, District Superintendent William R. Hite Jr and President of After School Activities Partnership Marciene Mattleman issued a fundraising challenge earlier this week to city residents asking for donations to fund afterschool programs for students heading to new schools because of recently approved closures, mergers and grade reconfigurations. Officials hope the donations will fund chess and Scrabble teams, drama clubs and debate squads at 40 schools, providing “safe, sustainable” afterschool activities for 10,000 students next September, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. 

 

Beckley-Stratton Middle School’s afterschool program invited Just For Kids Executive Director Scott Miller to teach them more about child abuse, a topic the students were already learning and creating a video about, The Register-Herald reports. Students asked Miller how to tell if someone is being abused, how Just For Kids helps child abuse victims, who is most likely an abuser and how the abuse starts. After Miller’s talk, the afterschool students donated fleece blankets they made to Just For Kids to help comfort kids interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center.

 

Elementary students participating in before- and after-school programs at Cossitt Avenue School got a lesson on proper hand washing, making healthy snacking choices, how to build a first aid kit and why sleep is important. The health, hygiene and nutrition program is the result of a partnership with Adventist LaGrange Memorial Hospital, Adventist Paulson Rehab Center and Trader Joe’s. Organizers hope to expand the program and into a health fair soon.

 

Modesto Bee columnist Jeff Jardine praises the Tracy Boys & Girls Club in a recent column. Thanks to the afterschool programs at the Tracy Boys & Girls Club students are more engaged in school and discipline problems are now rare. Jardine writes: “Why write about what transpires each afternoon on a school campus in Tracy? Because this same kind of program is coming to Modesto, long overdue and desperately needed.”