Weekly Media Roundup: November 6, 2024

Marin Middle-Schoolers Get Academic Boost from Teens, Marin Independent Journal (California)

In Marin County, California, high school students from Tamalpais High School and Marin Academy volunteer each week at local afterschool programs, providing homework assistance, guitar lessons, sailing instruction, sport opportunities and much more to middle school students. “The biggest benefits in my opinion is that often high school students have an easy time connecting and building trusting relationships with our middle schoolers,” Davidson Middle School Principal Michael Stachon told the Marin Independent Journal. “Our students have shared with me that they appreciate the extra support.” The high school volunteers provide needed staffing support to programs while also gaining valuable job experience.

Project Renewal Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary and New Expansion, WQAD (Iowa)

For 50 years, Project Renewal has provided academic support, field trips, and hands-on activities at its afterschool and summer programs in Davenport, Iowa. “There’s people from all walks of life that are woven together here through Project Renewal’s presence, and it gives a unique experience that most people say they’ve never had,” Project Renewal Executive Director Ann Schwickerath told WQAD. In the coming weeks, Project Renewal will host a grand opening for its newly constructed facility which will offer additional STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) and health and wellness activities.

Public Pressure Prompts Board of Education to Nix Proposed Learning Center Program Cuts, Hawaii News Now (Hawaii)

Last week, high school students packed a Hawaii Board of Education (BOE) meeting to testify against a proposal to cut $1.7 million in afterschool funding from the state budget. “We are not just numbers on a sheet. We affect society and that’s what we are here to do,” Teah Vaoifi, a Mililani High School student, told Hawaii News Now. In response to public pressure, the BOE voted not to make the cut, which would have affected programs ranging from robotics to theater to agriculture.

Free After School Programs at Cleveland’s Recreation Centers Help Steer Kids Away From Crime, WOIO-TV (Ohio)

More than 1,000 students who take part in free afterschool programs at Cleveland’s 20 recreation centers recently took a pledge to stand against gun violence in their communities. Students at the Michael J. Zone program say that mentors like Coach Joe Wise are critical to helping them stay safe amidst gun violence so they can pursue their dreams. “Joe pushed me to my fullest limit, even when I didn’t want to get pushed -- like he had picked me up from school, taken me home, fed me after a workout,” former student Savonte Quarles told WOIO-TV. “A lot of kids nowadays don’t have like a role model to look up to… So, I think this is, like, really important. We just have to get more kids involved.”