Youth Action

While Clemson University recently defeated the University of Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship, football fans at Louisiana State University could also claim a championship of their own having been crowned the overall winners of the 2016 GameDay Recycling Challenge (GDRC), the national collegiate football recycling competition.

Nearly 10,000 young women from middle and high schools across Los Angeles County gathered at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center on January 10 for an exclusive screening of Hidden Figures, the hit film from 20th Century Fox that tells the true story of three female African American mathematicians who played crucial roles in the Space Race of the 1960’s. The LA Promise Fund for Public Schools organized the screening, which featured appearances by cast members Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Aldis Hodge, along with producer Pharrell Williams, all of whom spoke about their hope that the Hidden Figures story will inspire more women and women of color to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Xploration Station, a weekend morning block of live-action, educational and informational TV shows primarily airing on FOX TV stations around the country, has been extended by the Fox Station Group through 2020. The announcement was made today by Steve Rotfeld, president of Steve Rotfeld Productions (SRP), who produces and distributes Xploration Station.

Holland America Line launched three new commuter “ships” Monday, Jan. 9, that will run on the Sound Transit Light Rail System in Seattle. The trains, which are wrapped to resemble Holland America Line’s newest ship, ms Koningsdam, will cruise the tracks through April 2017, when the summer cruise season to Alaska begins from the Port of Seattle.

Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, has awarded $1.1 million in grants to K-12 educators throughout the U.S. through the Ecolab Foundation’s 2016 Visions for Learning Educator Grants program.

Rebuilding Together will join with its affiliate, Rebuilding Together Acadiana, and its AmeriCorps members to repair flood-damaged homes for MLK Day.

The gender gap in technology and engineering is getting worse despite the increased demand for STEM-related jobs. GM and the national nonprofit Girls Who Code (GWC) today announced a partnership to inspire and empower thousands of U.S. middle and high school girls to become future leaders in these fields.

That’s why Keep Charleston Beautiful (KCB) and its volunteers, armed with a Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant, began working with The Compost Rangers in connecting schools, restaurants and local businesses to a grassroots compost initiative in Charleston.

In a joint pro bono effort, Weatherford, Texas Appleseed and Baker & McKenzie partnered to create The Texas Homeless Youth Handbook, a guide to help homeless youth better understand their legal rights, responsibilities and resources. Texas will be the fourth state in the U.S. to have this particular resource, found at www.homelessyouth.org.