Youth

Affordable childcare, YMCA center and playspace all included in potential Syracuse Children Rising Center

Dozens protest the decision to invest in an aquarium while so many in Syracuse live in poverty By April Santana South Side resident Ida Stewart knows how she would spend the county’s $85 million surplus: Health care for seniors and children, food security, housing, and on the fight against lead poisoning, for starters. Not on her list? An aquarium for …

“We the Dark Girls are talented, smart and strong…” This is the beginning of the manifesto of the Dark Girls Project. These words can be heard from the voices of 40 young girls and women every Thursday after school at Danforth Middle School. These words mark the start of every meeting.

Hasan Stephens believes hip-hop can lead youth away from the streets and toward success A 15-year-old steals from an elderly man. The goal: Get just enough money to buy some food. The yield: Just seven cents. Still, the culprit draws prison from a judge bent on teaching him a lesson. This could be one of the songs “DJ Maestro” plays …

Fifth-grade students from McKinley-Brighton Elementary School presented a check in the amount of $200 to Meals on Wheels of Syracuse Wednesday, Dec. 10. The donation was from the proceeds of “rice bag” sales. The students gathered in the school library, performed a song, and explained why they decided to donate to the non-profit, which will deliver nearly 194,000 meals this …

A sea of brown cardboard boxes covered the second floor of Beauchamp Branch Library on a recent Saturday, decorated with cascading ribbons and hand-drawn logos. These weren’t ordinary packing containers. Every branch of the Syracuse City Library system hosted the Cardboard Challenge on Oct. 11, inviting children from across the city to showcase their own makeshift games, complete with corrugated …

The Southside Academy Charter School found a new way to promote critical thinking in its classrooms and it’s in a way that no other school in the Syracuse City School District has tried. The charter school now offers a philosophy class to its eighth graders in the junior honors society. The class is held every Friday and is taught by …

A Guest Column by Breiale Martin, Shayla Baker and Azzuré McClain Bullying occurs frequently in our community, and the effects of bullying impact all involved in a negative way. There are different types of bullying that can occur. These are cyber bullying, physical bullying, and verbal bullying.

County chess championship held Sunday Students packed Southside Academy Charter School’s gymnasium to exercise their brains Sunday, March 23, as they used strategy and logic to compete in the annual Onondaga County Chess Championship. Around 52 students from around the county and other parts of upstate registered in three different divisions: K-4, K-6 and K-12. The top five students in …

Electronic Blackout encourages families to put down their devices and open a book Every day after school, Monique Bloomfield’s three children turn off the television, put away their video games and crack open a book. “From pre-K, we’ve had that rule: no watching TV during the week, except on Fridays when they come home,” Bloomfield said. She has two children …