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Weekly Media Roundup: March 13, 2024

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Weekly Media Roundup: March 13, 2024

English Learners Stopped Coming to Class During the Pandemic. One Group is Tackling the Problem By Helping Their Parents, Hechinger Report

In North Carolina, nearly one third of English language learning students were chronically absent last year, a rate significantly higher than the state’s overall student absenteeism rate. OurBRIDGE for Kids, an afterschool program for immigrant and refugee students in Charlotte, North Carolina, is addressing the issue with a comprehensive approach that is producing strong results. “We realized before trying to address why your child isn’t going to school, we needed to ask, ‘What’s worrying you right now?’ That question really opened up all the reasons why going to school was not the first priority for many families: housing insecurity, food insecurity, job loss,” Sil Ganzó, founder of ourBRIDGE for Kids and an Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Ambassador, told the Hechinger Report. In addition to providing culturally responsive afterschool programing, ourBRIDGE connects families to staff members who speak the same language and to local community support services.

State Working on Afterschool Programs. WV Metro News (West Virginia)

At the inaugural West Virginia Afterschool Quality Conference in Charleston, more than 120 out-of-school time programs gathered to discuss best practices and the need to expand access to afterschool statewide. The conference was organized by the state Department of Education in partnership with the Department of Human Services Division of Early Care and Education with the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network, which released its updated program standards at the event. “There are a lot more kids in West Virginia that would love to participate in an afterschool program if they had access to an afterschool program,” Susan Gamble, director of the West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network, told WV Metro News.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sierra Vista Expanding With a New After-School Program in Palominas School District, KGUN 9 (Arizona)

Students in the Palominas School District in Arizona will soon have access to a comprehensive afterschool program thanks to a new partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Sierra Vista. The new program will be the Club’s third in the Sierra Vista area and will offer a wide variety of activities not currently available at the students’ schools. For example, Palominas School District Superintendent Sherri Rosalik told KGUN9, “We’ve got some kids who are so into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and we don’t have those resources, but we could set up a room that has those 3D printers and Chromebooks [at the afterschool program], and we could do cool STEM activities in there.”

After School Academy Aims to Complement Classroom Learning, Sonoma Index-Tribune (California)

At the After School Empowerment Academy in Sonoma, California, high school students are participating in driver’s education classes, ready to work programs, finance courses, and leadership and advocacy programs. The free afterschool program began this winter, thanks to a partnership between Sonoma Valley Educational Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley, and Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance. “Long gone are the days of measuring success solely by a grade on a report card,” Sonoma Valley Education Foundation Executive Director Angela Ryan told the Sonoma Index-Tribune. “We know that true success for our students is the opportunity to explore who they are and what they want to become in a safe, resourced and inclusive environment. The After School Empowerment Academy reflects this sentiment by offering programs that develop the whole student — socially and emotionally, practically and academically.”

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