Afterschool in the News

For media inquiries, please contact Michele Ritchlin at michele@OANohio.org / (833) OAN-OHIO (626-6446)

Walking in Another’s Shoes

Sandy Valley Local Schools challenged third graders in their 21st Century Community Learning Center grant-funded afterschool program to research a problem, develop a solution, and pitch it. Students interviewed the school custodian about what he needed to do his job better and learned he needed a better way to store and organize his screwdrivers. They interviewed cafeteria staff and learned they needed a way to hold recipes while cooking. They interviewed the art teacher and learned she needed a better holder for drying and storing paintbrushes. Students went to work: they shared their findings with the entire third-grade class and invited them to help research and design solutions. They reviewed suggestions, created CAD designs for the 3D printers in their maker space, and pitched them to the end users: the school custodian, cafeteria staff, and art teacher.

Project-Based Learning and Goat Breath Mints

Fourth and fifth graders in Newark City Schools Afterschool Adventures learned about goats, bees, and chickens in an entrepreneurship education program with an agriculture focus, offered with funding from Battelle and in partnership with Young Entrepreneur Institute, Ohio Soybean Council, and Young Entrepreneur Institute. They took field trips to farms, talked with farmers, met barnyard animals, and flexed their entrepreneurial mindsets when they came up with solutions to challenges they learned about…including Goat Breath Mints.

Elevated Visibility and New Partners

Youngstown’s Heart Reach Neighborhood Ministries added entrepreneurship education to their summer program. Students learn about entrepreneurship, develop a business idea, and pitch it to community judges. In  2023, a Great Handshake competition was held. Students learned about, practiced, and competed to make the best first impression.

Congratulations Maya Dorsey! - August 23rd, 2023

The Ohio Afterschool Network is so excited to announce that Maya Dorsey, Director of K-12 Strategies, has been selected for the White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellowship. This fellowship creates opportunities to network and learn from experts from across the nation and to expand and improve afterschool and summer learning programming. Maya is the fifth OST professional from Ohio to be selected for the fellowship alongside Sheila James, Nichelle Harris-Shaskus, Charmaine Davis-Bey, and Michele Ritchlin who were all former recipients of the National Policy Fellowship.

Battelle Press Release - July 24th, 2023

Ohio Afterschool Network (OAN) extends Gratitude to Battelle for a $50,000 Investment in Ohio’s Out-of-School Time Programs. Click the button below to read the full press release.

Toledo’s Debbie Frison Chosen to Be One of Just 18 ‘Afterschool Ambassadors’ in the Nation This Year

The Afterschool Alliance announced today that Debbie Frison, Center Executive of the 21st Century Program at Rosa Parks and Glenwood Elementary Schools, has been selected to serve as an Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance in 2020-2021. She is one of just 18 leaders in the United States chosen for the honor this year.

Moonshot Project to Propel Girls into STEM

Could a "moonshot" effort draw a million more girls and young women into STEM fields? That's the intent of a new initiative that will embed STEM learning opportunities into out-of-school programs over the next five years. The "Million Girls Moonshot" is being funded by a consortium of foundations, including the Intel Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the STEM Next Opportunity Fund, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Student From I Promise School Wins Young Entrepreneur Award With Free WiFi Plan

Dylan West, an I Promise School student, won a Northeast Ohio Young Entrepreneur Pitch Challenge award. His idea centered around starting a company, Scholarly Connections, that would provide free WiFi access for all in Akron. He was one of five award winners. The LeBron James Family Foundation tweeted a congratulatory message to West.

From Risk to Opportunity: Afterschool Programs Keep Kids Safe

The more than 5,000 law enforcement leaders around the nation who are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, have long known that the hours immediately after school lets out, when parents are likely not available to supervise, are the prime-time for juvenile crime. Over the past 20 years, law enforcement leaders across the country have relied on high-quality afterschool programs to provide supportive, stable, and enriching environments with caring adults that keep children and youth out of trouble and safe, while supporting their academic success, and social and emotional development.

‘Learning Centers’ Take In Kids Locked Out of Schools During Online-Only Classes

The coronavirus may have closed school buildings in Cleveland for at least several weeks, but it’s not stopping nonprofits like the Boys and Girls Clubs or the YMCA from giving students a place to do their online lessons while their parents work. The organizations are joining a growing movement in Cleveland and nationally to provide remote “learning centers” or “learning hubs.”