April 2019
See What's in Store at Impact 2019
Impact After School Conference logo Find the full Impact 2019 Schedule and workshop descriptions online here.

You won't want to miss this year's speakers and workshops. Here are just a few highlights:

Implementation of Conscious Discipline in Afterschool K-8
Cassie Gerst, Burlington Community School District
Student behavior is a daily challenge in an after school setting. Students are tired after a long day of school and we tend to see a number of "bad behaviors" in our programs. Burlington Community School District's PIECES after school program decided to shift its classroom management style from a reward/punishment approach to a trauma informed, evidence-based, SEL best practice called Conscious Discipline. This session will discuss BCSD's first year of Conscious Discipline implementation within its five elementary sites and one middle school site. Learn how a public school district designed and implemented staff training, student behavior policies, coordination of school day and after school discipline practices, and reduced after school suspensions and office referrals by 90%.

Investing in Family Engagement with Y4Y
David McConnell and Monique McDowell, Foundations, Inc.
Engaging families in your program can be challenging but is easily worth the investment of time, energy, and resources when you see the value in terms of student success. This session will explore best practices for improving and developing relationships with families. You for Youth (Y4Y) trainers will collaborate with participants to customize free resources and tools to help create a family-friendly environment, serve family needs, plan activities for engagement and solicit family input and leadership.

Literacy: Above and Beyond
Theresa Slaughter, Central Iowa OST Enrichment Coach
Literacy is all around us. In this session, participants will be given another perspective in going above and beyond the traditional approaches and practices to literacy. Participants will be led through group discussions providing a standard definition for what literacy is along with a toolkit of various activities to go above and beyond.
 
Supporting the Whole Child using the 5-2-1-0 Approach
Lyn Jenkins, Every Step
Child wellness can impact attendance, concentration, behavior, and overall development. Whole child wellness efforts include physical and social-emotional needs. This session will use the framework of the 5-2-1-0 messaging and approach to deepen participants' understanding of creating an environment to meet student wellness needs. Participants will leave with evidence-based strategies to improve the policy, environment, and practices of their programs and ways to connect with partners and resources for successful implementation.

And so much more!
Register online today!
Complete Your Afterschool Advocate Profile
Iowa is making it into political news a lot lately. Iowa always factors prominently on presidential hopefuls' schedules as they reach out to voters and test their messages with Iowans.

We want to make afterschool a key message in policy discussions across the state and nationally. Working closely with the Afterschool Alliance, the Iowa Afterschool Alliance is building a corps of advocates across the state to show up at events, share news over social media and traditional media, and reach out to others with the message that Afterschool Works!

We are regularly tracking candidate events, legislative forums and coffees, and media to connect you with opportunities to share this message. Please complete your profile online so that we can better reach you with chances in your community to be an advocate for afterschool.

Please complete your profile online today!
Ensure Kids are Eating Over the Summer
Childhood food insecurity remains at unacceptable levels and children are most acutely at risk during the summer, when they do not have access to school meals. Your leadership can help ensure that the children you work with do not go hungry in the summer.
 
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides organizations with the opportunity to serve free meals to kids age 18 years and younger, in high need areas.

As an afterschool provider or partner, you can nourish both kids' minds and bodies! You are uniquely positioned to provide summer meals & snacks as part of your planned programming.
Summer Food Service 101:
  • Sites can operate the day after school dismisses for summer all the way up to the day before school resumes.
  • Local sponsors determine the actual days of operation, the length of overall service, and the meals and snacks provided.
  • Sponsors can provide up to 2 meals OR 1 meal & 1 snack per day.
  • A simplified meal pattern is available.
  • Reimbursement is provided for all eligible child meals served
What can you do to make summer meals a priority?
  • Connect with a colleague about summer meals and snacks. Afterschool programs across the state have experience with this program and could share insight.
  • As a trusted community organization, sponsor the program and host a meal site at your location. Adding a summer meal or snack can enhance your existing program.
  • Spread the word! If there are meal sites already in your community, notify families that participate in your afterschool programs via program materials, electronic message boards, social media, organization website, bookmarks, flyers, etc.
  • Partner with local sponsors to provide enrichment activities at meal sites already in your area.
For more information on the Summer Food Service Program or to sponsor a program, contact Stephanie Dross at [email protected]  or 515-281-4760, or check out Iowa's Summer Food Service Program website and the USDA's Summer Food Service Program website.
Webinars from the Afterschool Alliance
The Afterschool Alliance offers regular webinars on an array of topics. Recent topics include:
  • Summer Learning
  • Career and Tech Education
  • Health and Wellness
  • Social and Emotional Learning
  • Much more!
Find out about the Afterschool Alliance webinars on their website.
OST Best Practices Survey
The Iowa 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Support Committee has developed a brief survey in order to begin collecting data on key policies for operations in your programs. The committee's goal is to use this information to create a repository of best practices and templates for policies and procedures. We hope that you will take the time to complete this survey in the next few weeks. We thank you in advance for your time!
 
Please complete the survey online here.
Follow IAA on Facebook for Latest Updates
Facebook Follow the Iowa Afterschool Alliance on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iowaafterschoolalliance for the latest updates on the Every Student Succeeds Act (formerly No Child Left Behind), PD opportunities, IAA activities, and grant opportunities. Expect an update on an issue of interest every day! You can also follow us on Twitter by following @iowaafterschool.
Professional Development Opportunities
Apply Today for Free Professional Development
Apply to bring in the Iowa Afterschool Alliance to train your staff and/or partners on a number of topics ranging from STEM to sustainability planning. Pick from a  menu of topics for one training with options for online or in-person training.  Apply online by July 31, 2018.

Out of School Time Professional Development Center
The Out of School Time Professional Development Center provides Out of School Time training to OST professionals. The classes provide in-depth curriculum and certificates.  If you or your staff are interested in signing up for courses visit the  Out-of-School Time  website . Check out the entire course catalog here . 
 
Great Content on Y4Y!
You 4 Youth is a free  online professional development site that is designed to support 21CCLC program staff, but is a valuable tool for any afterschool professional looking to build their skills! Recently, Y4Y has rolled out a whole module on literacy. Click here to register.

Afterschool Alliance Webinars
The Afterschool Alliance offers webinars on a wide range of topics, from policy and the new Every Student Succeeds Act, to STEM and Social-Emotional Learning. Find out more on their webinars website.

Iowa Child Care Training Registry
Find professional development for school-age programming on the State of Iowa Child Care Training Registry on topics ranging from health and safety to developmentally appropriate programming. Find out more online

NAA Talk Tuesday PD Resources
Talk Tuesday provides afterschool professionals with the resources to host relevant discussions among peers, colleagues, staff, or community leaders. If you are looking to connect with afterschool professionals in your area or engage your staff with relevant topics, Talk Tuesday will provide the materials for you.

Find out more on their website here.  
 
Resources for STEM Programming
The Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) provides background information that is useful for the development of STEM programming. Find out more on their website. 
 
The Afterschool Tech Toolkit aims to empower afterschool professionals and educators with strategies and training so they can provide students with access to technology outside of classroom hours. It includes training modules on getting started, training staff, accessing technology and devices, and more. Take a look at the toolkit here.   
 
2019 Impact After School Conference
April 24-26, 2019; Des Moines, IA
The annual Impact After School Conference will be back for its seventh year in 2019. Join over 200 of your afterschool friends for this fun and engaging conference focused on high-quality enrichment programming.  
 
For up-to-date information on Impact, please visit the Iowa 21CCLC website.   
 
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