Weekly Media Roundup: September 17, 2025

West Side Elementary School Expands After-School Arts Programs Through Local Nonprofit, Block Club Chicago (Illinois)

Henry H. Nash Elementary School of Fine & Performing Arts in Chicago is launching a new afterschool program in collaboration with the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education that incorporates artistic expression into educational and social-emotional learning activities. “The students at Nash are very at-risk and face a lot of challenges, and by providing these additional afterschool programs they’ll be more engaged in learning,” Amy Rasmussen, executive director of the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, told Block Club Chicago. The program, supported by an Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority grant, will feature professional artists leading a variety of classes, such as drumming, African dance, graffiti and silk screening.

Emmys Raise $350,000 for Boys and Girls Club After Host Nate Bargatze’s Speech Donation Pledge, The Hollywood Reporter

On Sunday, students in Boys & Girls Club afterschool programs joined the stage at the 2025 Emmy Awards, as host Nate Bargatze joked he would deduct $1,000 from a $100,000 donation to the organization each time a winner’s speech exceeded 45 seconds. “It’s brutal. What you gonna do though?” Bargatze joked. “I can’t change it. This is a game I made up and these are the rules.” Several awardees went over time and promised to cover the difference. At the end of the show, accompanied on stage by Club students eating ice cream, Bargatze announced he and CBS would donate a combined $350,000 to the nonprofit to support its out-of-school time programming.

Beyond the Bell at Vacaville Schools, Modesto Bee (California)

With funding from California’s Expanded Learning Opportunity Program and After School Education and Safety Program, the Vacaville Unified School District provides afterschool programs at each of its ten elementary school, offering students enriching activities, academic support and a healthy dinner. “Being able to come back and teach in it is huge,” Olivia Salvador, a robotics instructor at Callison Elementary School and former afterschool participant, told the Modesto Bee. “It means so much to give these students the same spark that I had when I was their age.”

Afterschool STEM: Turning Curiosity into Careers and Citizenship, Youth Today

From the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania’s Artificial Intelligence Pathways Institute Activation Camp to Scientific Adventures for Girls’ mentorship programs, afterschool programs across the country are sparking students’ interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). In a recent guest column for Youth Today, Afterschool Alliance Senior Vice President for STEM & Youth Civic Engagement Anita Krishnamurthi argues that such programs are especially impactful when they combine STEM with opportunities for students to better their communities. “All of us who want to improve our society in the here and now while also taking steps to build a bright future should be speaking out and pressing for more, not less, government investment in STEM education. And educators and those of us in youth development should be looking to prepare the next generation to be engaged changemakers in our STEM-driven world,” Krishnamurthi writes.