Weekly Media Roundup: January 30, 2019

After School Program Teaches Students Valuable Lessons About Money, CBS Miami (Florida)

Students in the After-School Investing Program in Miami-Dade, Florida are getting a jump start on financial skills including managing cash flow and choosing wise investments. Jake Butler, a former economics teacher who now works as a real estate investor, volunteers to teach the course to expand students’ thinking about career paths and ways they can earn money.  Interactive games teach students about income, expenses and how to handle unexpected challenges. “If I’d had it, I know it would have made a difference,” Butler told CBS Miami.

Science Club Started by Fourth-Grade ‘Junior Scientist’ a Big Hit with Allegany-Limestone Kids, Olean Times Herald (New York)

Fourth-grader Ella Oldham collected signatures from her peers and then convinced her principal to start a science-oriented afterschool program at her school in Allegany, New York. As a result, today 32 fourth-grade students are enrolled in the pilot program. The curriculum was designed with the help of chemistry professors at a nearby university and features hands-on experiments to spark students’ interest in science.  “Next year, we’re hopeful that we can continue on with this program and maybe open it to other grade levels,” teacher Corinne Quinn told the Olean Times Herald.

Tampa After-School Program Provides Positive Space for Young Girls and Teens, Fox 13 News (Florida)

At the Centre for Girls afterschool program in Tampa, Florida, girls ages 5 to 14 learn about robotics, yoga, green living, arts and more. A primary goal of the program is to increase girls’ self-confidence and empower them to be leaders in their communities by fostering mentoring relationships between students and caring adults. “We learn a lot of inspirational stuff, and stuff to help us grow into young ladies and stuff that helps us…make better decisions," student Kimali Smith told Fox 13 News. “I had a bad attitude and I was always mad, but now since I’ve been coming, I’ve been more happy and gotten confidence.”

‘Creating a Legacy’: Kevin Durant Comes Home to Suitland to Open The Durant Center, The Washington Post

NBA star Kevin Durant has pledged $10 million over the next decade to an afterschool program that will provide youth in his hometown of Suitland, Maryland with opportunities he could not access as a child. The new facility, called The Durant Center, is located next door to the McDonald’s where Durant used to wait after school while his mother finished working. The facility will feature afterschool programming from College Track, which will provide an inaugural class of 69 students with academic support, mentoring relationships and college preparation assistance. “The name Kevin Durant will mean a lot to me for years to come, that he helped young kids,” student Jasmine Richardson told The Washington Post. “He knows what us kids go through. We all were kids once.”