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AFTERSCHOOL OBSERVER
NOVEMBER 2022
ADVOCACY
NORTH CAROLINA LIGHTS ON AFTERSCHOOL 2022
Thank you to everyone who supported, hosted, and participated in this year's Lights On Afterschool!

Governor Roy Cooper officially declared October 20th as Lights on Afterschool Day in North Carolina and providers across the state joined in the celebration. Nearly 100 special events were held across our state to help shine a light on the valuable service afterschool programs provide to our students and the important role providers play as a part of their local community. Lights On Afterschool also helps highlight the continued and growing need for quality out of school time learning opportunities for families in NC. While over 190,000 kids in North Carolina rely on afterschool programs every day over 660,000 kids are still waiting to get into a program.

We sincerely appreciate and are so grateful to all of the incredible providers in our state. Your work provides hundreds of safe spaces for students in North Carolina, inspires a love of learning, helps working families, and makes a positive impact on the lives of every student you reach!
SUPPORT
NO COST AFTERSCHOOL MATH PLUS CURRICULUM TRAINING
Are you a program looking for an engaging math curriculum and resources you can implement in your afterschool program immediately? In this workshop series, participants will be introduced to After-School Math Plus, an evidence-based curriculum to support students in developing a positive math identity by exploring mathematics in everyday experiences. The highly engaging, hands-on curriculum also builds students’ awareness of the importance of math skills for future educational choices and career options. The program engages students in grades 3-8 who are attending out-of-school-time programs.


November 22 9:30-10:45 PST / 12:30-1:45 EST Register Here Meeting ID: 931 5017 3110
December 13th 9:30-10:45 PST / 12:30-1:45 EST Register Here Meeting ID: 931 5017 3110
ADVOCACY
NOVEMBER 8TH IS NATIONAL STEM DAY
STEM/STEAM Day falls on November 8. There’s no way around it: children are significantly better off with strong science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics skills. That’s why STEM and STEAM education programs are so important. It’s undebatable that these subjects push society forward, and these programs help to find fun and engaging ways to teach them to students, which is all worth commemorating. So, on November 8, we celebrate STEAM/STEAM Day!

In honor of National STEM Day the National Girls Collaborative Project will host a webinar presented by The Toy Association. This webinar will introduce you to free resources available through The Genius of Play initiative. This initiative provides parents, caregivers, and educators with research, expert advice, and ready-to-use ideas and activities to engage kids of all ages in a fun and skill-building play.

Get ready to learn on November 8th, 2022 at 12pm Eastern time

Excerpt from: National Today Website
SUPPORT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH ACRES
Modeling Math Practices:
Are you looking for fun ways to help youth build number sense and problem-solving skills? Math can take on new meaning when it is integrated into daily routines in our afterschool programs. In this module, afterschool educators will explore and practice strategies for making math engaging and accessible.

Learn more about the upcoming three part series, starting on December 8th at 6:30pm, on the ACRES Website
INFORM
HOW EDUCATION CULTURE WARS AND MAINTAINING BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR AFTERSCHOOL [RECORDING]
From the How Kids Learn Foundation:
Over the past 30 years the afterschool movement has enjoyed public support and the support of elected leaders from both sides of the aisle, at the local, state and federal levels. This webinar reviews afterschool’s bipartisan history, the rise of today’s education culture wars, and ways that afterschool programs can avoid entanglement in these controversies.
Speakers include: Dr. Femi Vance, American Institutes for Research; Dr. Terry Peterson, Afterschool Alliance; Melissa Schlinger, CASEL; Michael Funk, California Department of Education; Bridget Laird, WINGS for Kids
SUPPORT
ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY IN OUT OF SCHOOL TIME:
VIRTUAL INSTITUTE
Join NAA and the Collaborative for Advancing Health Equity in Out-of-School Time for a virtual training series designed to support OST programs with increasing access to healthy eating and physical activity for youth. Participants will learn how to leverage existing quality standards, such as the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards (HEPA), assessment tools, and data, to capture current activities that support the health and wellbeing of youth. Register Today!
ADVOCACY
ELECTION SEASON IS UPON US AND EDUCATION IS ON THE BALLOT
Early voting has begun in North Carolina, and the importance of the 2022 election cannot be overstated. The outcome of the soon-to-be-decided races will have far-reaching implications for critically important issues like women’s reproductive rights, gun safety, voting rights, the economy, the environment, and of course, education. The Public School Forum of North Carolina, urges you to research the candidates who will be on your ballot to determine which candidates’ commitments align with what you think is best for the future of our children, our state, and our country.

Consider checking out the 2022 North Carolina General Assembly Candidate Survey as a resource while you prepare to cast your vote. This survey was distributed to all candidates running for the General Assembly and included six questions addressing key education policy issues that impact public schools across our state. Many of these issues come down to decisions over funding for public education and how different candidates plan to prioritize investments for the next generation of North Carolinians.
SUPPORT
SEE IT TO BE IT: PATHWAYS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE CAREERS
In preparation for Computer Science Education Week (#CSEdWeek), please join Million Women Mentors for See IT to Be IT: Pathways to Computer Science Careers, a virtual event on Monday, November 21, 2022, at 2 pm ET/ 11am PT.

During the virtual event, Infosys Foundation USA and Learning Blade® will present meaningful and engaging ways in which K-12 educators and mentors can support girls in pursuing a computer science education and computer science careers.

Attendees will receive free educational and career awareness resources produced by Learning Blade and funded by Infosys Foundation USA to be used with K-12 students during CSEdWeek.
INFORM
MAKE USE OF THE MIZZEN BY MOTT APP
Supported by the Mott Foundation, Mizzen is available at no cost to afterschool professionals! Download the Mizzen By Mott app to access STEM activities at your finger-touch! You’ll find it in Mizzen here.

Featured Activities & Playlists
  • Mizzen Playlist: STEM Activities for K-5th Grade in Small Groups - This playlist is a great mix of engineering and science activities that are easy and fun for small groups of students.
  • Mizzen Playlist: Science Notebooks for 3rd - 12th Grade - Keeping a notebook can help your students think and act like scientists and engineers. Sample these easy-to-implement strategies and lessons to bring science notebooking into your program.
  • Mizzen Module: S.INQ Up Earth and Space for 6-8th Grade - Earth and Space is an inquiry and exploration-based curriculum that uses hands-on activities focused on the relationships between the earth, the solar system, and human impacts on our global environment.
  • Activity Toolkit: STEM Educators Academy Activity Toolkit from ExpandED Schools — This Activity Toolkit offers hybrid learning engineering design challenges, STEM facilitation skill builder videos, and engineering design activities categorized by content areas. 
  • Activity Toolkit: Engineering is Elementary's NASA Partnership free units - A suite of free NASA-funded STEM resources for students in grades 3-8. All resources are research-based and classroom-tested. They are designed to support students’ understanding of space, while helping them see themselves as capable problem solvers.
SUPPORT
NO COST TRAINING - TECHBRIDGE GIRLS EQUITY COHORT
Research tells us that responsive learning environments can make all the difference in girls’ sustained interest in STEM. To that end, we created the STEM Equity Learning Community intensive training to equip OST program managers and site directors so that more equitable learning spaces are available for girls, especially Black, Indigenous, and Latina girls, across the U.S. Through the STEM Equity Learning Community participants will:
  • Explore how to use asset-based frameworks and practices to create inclusive OST STEM spaces for all youth.
  • Experience culturally relevant and gender-responsive strategies that increase STEM belonging and persistence for all youth.
  • Develop STEM equity action steps for their OST program.
The 2-hour, virtual STEM Equity Learning Community sessions are scheduled from January to May on the second Wednesday of each month at 1pm Eastern. Each participant will receive a $1500 stipend to participate. Apply here by December 1st. 
Attend an informational webinar November 9th at 1pm Eastern. Register here
INFORM
COST, CENTER LOCATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND CONVENIENCE REMAIN BARRIERS FOR WORKING PARENTS IN NEW STUDY
Though the school year is underway for students, finding high-quality accessible afterschool programming is top of mind for parents across the country. Our team has been examining the differences between parents in various different forms of working situations, including households where parents are working on-site and households where parents are working remotely on their experience with their children’s afterschool and summer programs, in our new survey of almost 1,500 parents or guardians of school-aged children across the country, administered by Edge Research from May 12 to June 28, 2022.

Working parents across the nation have been and continue to face child care challenges, in 2021 Pew Research reported that “about half of employed parents with children younger than 12 in the household (52 percent) say it has been difficult to handle child care responsibilities during the coronavirus outbreak.” The difference is even more pronounced with more than half of working moms sharing “they felt like they could not “give 100 percent” at work because they were balancing work and parenting responsibilities.” We dig deep into afterschool-related challenges here. Read on to find the important takeaways from this article.
CONVENE
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR THE 2023 BEYOND SCHOOL HOURS CONFERENCE
Be a part of the annual Beyond School Hours Conference this February at the Caribe Resort in Orlando, Florida!

Beyond School Hours is a national conference that brings together afterschool and OST colleagues from across the nation for a 3-day professional learning event. Refresh, renew, and have fun connecting with peers and experts. Take home skills, tools, and a renewed passion for improving learning outcomes for young people through workshops, pre-conferences, keynote presentations, discussions, networking opportunities, and exhibits.

[Orlando, Florida] – Thursday, February 9 through Sunday, February 12, 2023
INFORM
MILLION GIRLS MOONSHOT STEM ACTIVITIES
The North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs is a part of the Million Girls Moonshot, helping out-of-school time programs as they increase the quality of STEM learning opportunities for all young people, especially underserved and underrepresented youth. The following engineering activities can be shared with programs and families for additional STEM learning.

  • Role Models are Critical to Introduce Girls to STEM Careers - Looking for STEM role models & mentors? Create a free VolunteerMatch account and post volunteer opportunities to connect STEM role models and mentors to work with your youth today!
  • Take Flight - Using everyday materials, youth engineer a glider that can fly straight for 15 feet.
  • Keep Your Cool! Design Your Own Cooler Challenge - Youth design a cooler that will keep a bottle of water cool using the engineering design process. They test their prototype and graph their results to determine the effectiveness of the solution.
  • Get it Write! - Youth engineering a writing device (pen) using everyday materials. They think about both the (water soluble) "ink" and the delivery mechanism.

To learn more, click here.
INFORM
NC CAP STEM CORNER: NASA ENGINEERING PLAYLIST
Looking for a sequence of activities you can implement in your afterschool program today? Say goodbye to googling or searching on Pinterest. Use the following activities in sequence to support youth in building an engineering mindset with NASA activities.  

  • Lesson 1: Build An Airplane (Engineering Design Process Activity) - Build an airplane that has ailerons, elevators and a rudder. 
  • Lesson 2: Build a Satellite (Engineering Design Process Activity) - This lesson provides students with an understanding of satellites, their use and structure, and power systems. In this potentially multi-day activity, students will use the engineering design process to design, build, test and improve a model satellite. 
  • Lesson 3: Women@NASA: Role Models (Role Models and Mentors Connection) Watch a video of one of the women who are engineers and work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. After watching a video, have the youth write a paragraph about the engineer, one wondering what they have about the engineer, and one question they would ask the engineer.
  • Lesson 4: Make a Soda Can Engine (Engineering Design Process) - Students will investigate the action-reaction principle (Newton's third law of motion) by creating a water-propelled engine. By observing the device in action and changing certain variables, students will explore the properties of engines and the dynamics behind directionality and thrust. 
  • Lesson 5: Women@NASA: Careers (Role Models and Mentor Connection) - Many people dream of careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Hear about the fascinating careers at NASA. After watching the short video, youth write a paragraph about the career they might want in STEM.
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
NC CAP WANTS TO HIGHLIGHT YOUR PROGRAM!
The North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP) would like to highlight program successes statewide. Tell us about your program and you might be our Program Spotlight in the next edition of the Afterschool Observer or on Social Media. Click the Program Spotlight below to be redirected to the updated survey link to tell us about your program. 
SUPPORT
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Allen Foundation, Inc.'s priorities and policies are: (1) to make grants to fund relevant nutritional research; (2) to support programs for the education and training of mothers during pregnancy and after the birth of their children; (3) to assist in the training of persons to work as educators and demonstrators of good nutritional practices; (4) to encourage the dissemination of information regarding healthful nutritional practices and habits; and (5) in limited situations to make grants to help solve immediate emergency hunger and malnutrition problems. Applications are due January 15th, 2023.

Centene is offering general operating grants of up to $500,000 to organizations that fall within one or more of the following areas of focus: Health, Education, Children, and the Arts. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Discover is offering grants of up to $5,000 to nonprofit organizations working in the areas of education and literacy. Funding, donations, and sponsorships are intended to support programs and initiatives that meet the needs of various communities across the country, with a particular focus on communities where Discover employees live and work. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Dogwood Health Trust seeks to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities of Western North Carolina. They are interested in projects that address one or more of their strategic priorities: Housing, Education, Economic Opportunity, and Health and Wellness and that align with their overarching commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They also have interests in projects related to improving broadband access to support education and healthcare bridging rural divides, and addressing racial equity issues. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The NC GlaxoSmithKline Traditional Grants provides grants of $25,000 and above to organizations to help meet the educational and health needs of today's society and future generations. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The Duke Energy Foundation is committed to making strategic investments to build powerful communities where nature and wildlife thrive, youth can excel, and a talented workforce drives economic prosperity for all. These grants support programs that prevent summer reading loss, while also advancing energy, engineering, and environmental education. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The Saxena Family Foundation is a privately funded, 501(c)(3) registered non-profit charitable foundation headquartered in Austin, TX. The Foundation awards grants and supports programs that have a particular focus on STEM education and around empowering women in the United States and in India. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs | www.ncafterschool.org