Weekly Media Roundup: January 3, 2024

Robbinsville Extended Day Program is Much More than Childcare, Communitynews.org (New Jersey)

At the Sharon Elementary School’s Robbinsville Extended Day (RED) program in New Jersey, students take part in yoga, financial literacy courses, robotics, cooking classes, sign language instruction, hockey, soccer, and much more. The program offers before-school, afterschool and summer programming to students in kindergarten through eighth grade and also provides a “Discover Kindergarten” program to help preschoolers adjust to the school environment. Celeste Albert’s daughter enrolled in the pre-kindergarten program and has been there ever since. “She was able to be in the Sharon School, get to know the building, get to know some teachers and meet new friends that would be in her grade — all before kindergarten started,” Albert told Communitynews.org.

Bridging Gaps: After School Program in Mount Vernon Aids Mental Health Support for Bilingual Children, KOMO (Washington)

In Mount Vernon, Washington, the bilingual Boys & Girls Club afterschool program at LaVenture Middle School incorporates mental and behavioral health support in each of its activities and provides a safe space for students to share their emotions and struggles. Two-thirds of the students attending LaVenture Middle School and 84% of the students participating in the afterschool program are Hispanic. “Knowing their background, knowing where they come from, and knowing what their culture is like, sometimes you have to take a different approach,” Marco Rivera, a behavioral health specialist with the Boys and Girls Club of Skagit County, told KOMO.

Virginia Teacher to Be Honored for ‘Phenomenal' Before- and After-School Program: 'Put in the Work', WTVR-TV (Virginia)

Throughout two decades of teaching in Petersburg Public Schools in Virginia, Sheila Mosby saw the need for expanded supports for students. “Sometimes there are gaps in learning and the school can’t do it all. A lot of time our kids don’t get exposure to a lot of different things other than what they see and know,” Mosby told WTVR-TV. To help fill those gaps, Mosby created the Metropolitan HYPE Center before- and afterschool program, with funding and support from a foundation and a local church. The program focuses on mental health and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), and activities range from growing fruits and vegetables to coding video games. Mosby, who continues to teach full-time while running the program, will be honored with a legacy award at the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Breakfast this month.

City Teachers Say Afterschool Programs Increase Attendance, Martinsville Bulletin (Virginia)

At a recent school board meeting in Martinsville, Virginia, several Patrick Henry Elementary School teachers shared about how their school’s afterschool programming helps students develop new skills while fostering a positive school environment. The school offers a wide range of activities including LEGO robotics, performing arts, engineering, entrepreneurship and more. “As a positive result out of all of the clubs, it has helped increase our attendance, it has helped increase our positive behavior,” fourth grade teacher Elizabeth Fulcher told the school board. “Students are excited to be there. They don’t want to miss school because we have robotics [that day].”