Weekly Media Roundup - September 26, 2012

Clinton Students Celebrate Afterschool Programming (Clinton Herald, Iowa)
In Iowa students are getting a jump start on celebrating Lights On. Families in Clinton rallied last week for the city’s 11th annual Lights On Afterschool event at Ashford University Field. Afterschool program director Loras Osterhaus told the Clinton Herald that the event not only showcases the community’s support for afterschool programs, but it also serves as a kickoff for the Clinton School District’s yearly program. More than 500 parents and community members participated in this year’s rally.

This week The Daily Republic reported that Heather DeWit, director of childcare and education for Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, in Sioux Falls, was selected to serve as one of the Afterschool Alliance’s 2012-2013 Afterschool Ambassadors. 

 

The National Science Foundation has announced that it will provide $7.4 million to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education over five years in nine elementary schools in Baltimore. The new project includes professional development for teachers, curricular enhancements, and more. Its goal is to enable afterschool providers to enhance STEM learning by providing additional STEM-related activities in the community. The project is led by Johns Hopkins University with support from several partners in the community.

 

In St. Louis, violence continues to be a backdrop for the children attending afterschool programs at the Christian Activity Center. This weekend Center regular Alonzo Phieffer, 19, was one of three killed in a fight in the parking lot of a local club. The Center’s leader Chet Cantrell is “frustrated that the forces of living in one of the poorest, most dangerous cities can take down even the most promising youths.” Cantrell said that he knows that without the center, hundreds of children would have no opportunity to learn about computers, eat a hot meal after school, play in a safe, supervised place, get homework help or attend classes preparing them for a higher education.