Weekly Media Roundup: March 15, 2023

Youth Invited to Reimagine Sioux Falls with City Build 2040 Event, Dakota News Now (South Dakota)

Elementary schoolers attending the South Dakota Afterschool Network’s two-day City Build 2040 event in Sioux Falls will work with local experts to create models that showcase their vision for Sioux Falls in 2040. The students will incorporate recyclable materials into their designs and examine the impact climate change and community needs have on city planning. “Creating opportunities like City Build where youth are given a voice and access to real-world examples of people who are carrying out this kind of work is an important element to introducing career opportunities and challenging young minds with hands-on experiences,” Billy Mawhiney, executive director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network and an Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Ambassador, told Dakota News Now. “Afterschool programs provide an ideal environment to let kids really dive in and explore new concepts in a meaningful way.”

Can a New, $400K Youth Training Program Turn Century from 'Forgotten' to 'Unforgettable'? Pensacola News Journal (Florida)

Thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Escambia County Children’s Trust, the Urban Development Center in Century, Florida will open a new afterschool program focusing on career development, workforce readiness and entrepreneurial opportunities. YouthFirst Century will provide technology courses, job training and mental health support to students ages 11 to 18. “We’re teaching people how to be self-sufficient from the time that they’re children and get them to start dreaming and seeing their capability and understanding that competency does build confidence,” the Urban Development Center’s Jessica Griffen told the Pensacola News Journal.

$500K in Grants Available for Howard County After-School Programs, WBAL-TV (Maryland)

Last week, officials with Howard County in Maryland announced $500,000 in new grants for out-of-school time programs to support students’ mental health in the wake of the pandemic. The grants will be awarded to nonprofit programs serving students ages 10-18 and can be used to strengthen existing programming or create new programs. “Young people, you deserve support and for the root causes of the issues to be addressed. You deserve mental health supports and trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches. You deserve safe spaces to go after school…. You deserve grace, especially after what we all have gone through after the last three years," Columbia Community Care’s Erica Stauss Chavarria told WBAL-TV.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford Show Their Work in STEAM Program, WTNH-TV (Connecticut)

Students from the Greater Hartford Boys & Girls Clubs afterschool program visited Makerspace Connecticut last Thursday to take part in hands-on science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) activities and display their STEAM creations. The students recently won first place in a STEAM competition that included five Boys & Girls Clubs from across the country. “This is a way that our young people can showcase the work,” Greater Hartford Boys & Girls Clubs CEO and President Sam Gray told WTNH-TV. “Whether it be through robotics, coding — all those different disciplines. Tonight … the kids had the opportunity to show off to their families, as well.”