February 2017

UPCOMING TRAININGS
 
Latino Virtual Museum

The Latino Virtual Museum is a Hands-On and Virtual Curriculum created through the Smithsonian Latino Center. It provides educators with innovative teaching strategies designed to engage youth in STEAM Careers. The training provides lessons and activities for upper elementary and middle school youth in culture, art, and science.

February 6, 2017
OregonASK Offices
Wilsonville
9:00-12:00
 
Science Action Club: Birds!

Through games, projects, and hands-on activities, youth in SAC: Birds investigate nature, document their discoveries, connect with scientists, and design strategies to protect our planet. These citizen science based activities are perfect for out-of-school-time programs!

Programs who register for the training are also signing on to complete the full 10 lesson plans this Spring with at least 15 students enrolled each session. Facilitators from each site will be asked to give feedback after each lesson in an online document. Participating sites will receive the $500 kit for free from the California Institute of Sciences along with the curriculum and free training.

February 10th
Eugene Public Library
1:00-5:00

February 24th
OregonASK Offices
Wilsonville 
9:00-1:00
 
Art and STEAM in Afterschool: Hands-On workshop for best practices 

Please join us for a professional development workshop for teaching great STEAM and Art in afterschool! These two short, hands-on back to back trainings will get you ready to share the best practices in STEAM and the Art in your program!

Great Art in Afterschool: Creative Art Projects and Activities 

This hands-on workshop will run through fun art-based activities for school age kids that go beyond crafts and explore learning about and creating amazing artwork! 

Including Great Art Practices in Your STEAM Program

This Hands-On Workshop will give you great ideas for making the most of Art in your STEAM program. We will explore best practices for integrating art and design projects into great STEM curriculum. Participants will leave with clear strategies for relating art and science through creative thinking.

February 17, 2017
Umatilla High School
Umatilla, Oregon
12:30 pm - 4:30 pm

 
 
Code.org 

The goal of the Code.org CS Fundamentals workshop is to prepare teachers with computer scien ce pedagogy and problem­solving skills/tactics for preparing and teaching lessons from Courses 1­4. Teachers will practice the Teacher, Learner, Observer model; practice the online components of the curriculum; explore equity in the classroom; and address barriers to implementing Computer Science curriculum in the classroom. Participants will receive free curriculum and materials from Code.org. 

February 18, 2017
OregonASK Offices
Wilsonville
9:00-4:30

 
Washington County Workshop on Family Engagement  

Lack of parent engagement is a serious challenge for your staff and the children you serve. This conference will give you tried and true strategies and actions that will help you effectively boost parent engagement. Our panel will deliver practical strategies, tactics, activities, suggestions, resources, and ideas you can begin using right away. You'll have the opportunity participate in a rich discussion with the experts and your colleagues.  Presented in coordination with Oregon ASK.

Email Katie Riley at katie@katieriley.org
to register! 
 Suggested donation $10.

February 25th
THPRD, Cedar Hills Recreation Center, Room C-1
Beaverton
8:30-1:00
 
Mozilla Web Literacy Club

In this interactive training, participants will explore how to engage school-aged youth in Mozilla Web Clubs with a focus on web literacy as outlined in the Mozilla web literacy map. Participants will explore how to support youth voice, successfully create groups and teams for Web Literacy activities, and how do issue digital badges for Mozilla 21st Century Skills.

February 25th 
OregonASK Offices
Wilsonville
8:30-4:30

Registration coming soon.
 
Children and Nature Symposium 

March 13th at the Oregon Zoo 

Keep your eyes open for more information!



Register at  http://bit.ly/2kjOQYI
ESSA Workgroup
 
Coming Soon - Report and recommendations -A Sustainable Pathway for All.
 
OregonASK has been working in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Education, Chief Education Office and an amazing group of stakeholders, to offer solutions to help policymakers and STEM partners thoroughly understand the importance and role that afterschool and summer STEM & CTE opportunities play in creating equitable systems to support all youth in Oregon.  Our report provides a framework for implementation, as well as suggested funding sources to provide a practical manual for increasing student outcomes to meet the rigorous state goals set forth to ensure our state and our students, teachers and communities continue to grow and thrive in the years to come. The report is coming in early March. 
 
Full implementation of ESSA will not occur until the 2017-18 school year, but planning must begin now. States and school districts and their partners can find valuable resources for creating positive school climates and expanded learning opportunities in ESSA Titles I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, and IX. This report describes resources, programmatic requirements, and allowable uses of funds in each of these Titles. For each Title, this report provides a brief description about the program that was authorized, lists the appropriated and authorized funding levels as set forth by Congress, the President's fiscal year 2017 budget request, and the type of entity that can apply for the fund.

We'll be hosting an open conversation about ESSA our workgroup's recommendations on February 8, from 2:30-4:30 in Wilsonville. You're invited to join us in-person or virtually. Registration can be found here.  
Black Male Achievement

Our My Brother's Keeper VISTA, Juan Soto, splits his time between OregonASK and Black Male Achievement (BMA), housed in the office of Equity and Human Rights at the City of Portland. BMA was launched in 2015 to assist city leaders in their efforts to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys. Juan will work closely with the Education Subcommittee of BMA, helping their efforts to pursue  fair and equitable policies for black students. Part of his task during his year of service will involve engaging black students, parents, and teachers to bring their voices into the process. Juan will also help design and implement an Access and Equity survey with OregonASK, aimed at investigating issues of access for underrepresented populations to afterschool and summer programs in Oregon.

He's looking forward to getting out there and hearing from members of the community! If you'd like to know more about this work, email Juan at 
juan.soto@oregonask.org.
National Afterschool Association 
 
As the Oregon Affiliate to the National Afterschool Association (NAA), we invite you to attend NAA's Annual Convention March 19-22 in Dallas! We'll be there to present some great workshops and hope to see lots of Oregon programs attend! Read below to find out more about the convention and how to register.

Including Great Art Practices in your STEAM Program
Master trainer Rachel Kessler will present at the National Afterschool Association (NAA)  annual convention this March (for more information about the event, scroll down!) Her hour-long training, Including Great Art Practices in your STEAM Program, is a hands-on workshop that offers great ideas for making the most of Art in your STEAM program. The training will explore best practices for integrating art and design projects into great STEM curriculum. Participants will leave with clear strategies for relating art and science through creative and critical thinking.
 
Click2Science Badging
OregonASK Master Trainer, Susan Hamann, will be co-presenting at the  National Afterschool Association  Convention in March with Melissa Fenton of  Click2Science . Click2Science is a professional development resource for afterschool providers wishing to boost their skills in offering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) activities in the programs. All of the resources are free on their website and there are great tools like training scripts, example videos, coaching ideas, and staff meeting activities. Last year, OregonASK participated in a pilot project with NAA and Click2Science for afterschool providers in Oregon to receive a STEM micro-credential and a digital badge showing they participated in Click2Science training and coaching and demonstrated their skill in offering STEM activities. We are hoping to offer another STEM Micro-credential cohort this summer. Stay tuned to our newsletter for updates. You can learn more about digital badges   here .

NAA Next Generation of Afterschool Honorees
Congratulations to Kelly Cousineau, Program Coordinator for MESA, and Kelly Schroeder, Area Manager for KinderCare Education LLC- Champions for being selected as two of the 30 NAA next generation honorees. This award highlights emerging professionals who are active in the afterschool community- young leaders who possess passion, creativity and a commitment to youth and embody the NAA core competencies. We are lucky to have them both in Oregon!

Stepping Up Your STEM Game at NAA17
This year, NAA's Annual Convention will feature 25+ dedicated STEM workshops, a general session focused on STEM and leadership, a learning expo with exhibitors sharing STEM products and services, and more!
 
In 2016, the NAA Convention was ranked as one of the top Educational Conferences for 2016 by  STEAM Education and Convention participants who attended STEM-related workshops indicated:
  • an increased knowledge on how to access STEM resources and participants
  • increased confidence in delivery of STEM experiences
  • increased confidence in communicating with schools, families, and communities about the importance of STEM learning in Out-of-School time.
If you work in the afterschool field and have a passion for STEM-you don't want to miss this event! Visit www.naaweb.org/attend for more information and register to up your STEM game today!
 
 
Spotlight on Summer 

Do you run a summer program, know someone who does, or want to help offer summer meals? The Summer Food Service Program is a federal nutrition program designed to feed youth during the summer months. 

Thousands of Oregon children depend on free or reduced priced meals during the school year. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) provides funds for organizations to serve meals to low-income children during the summer when school is not in session. Funding is provided by the USDA. Meal sites can be hosted at a variety of locations, including parks, schools and churches.

Start a Program: Contact Dustin Melton, Oregon Department of Education, or read our Fact Sheet and Summer Food Guide

Support Summer Programs: Donate, volunteer or spread the word. Here's how.


Face and Places: Summer Fun at Stephenson Child Care

Summer days at Stephenson's Child Care Association Summer Program start early and run late, spanning from 7:00am to 6:00pm. These long days, however, fly by with help from Stephenson's special recipe of fun, flexibility, and student choice. Indeed, the program is so flexible that staff never know how many kids to expect, as the program allows families and students to drop-in whenever they need to. Program Director Mark says the drop-in hours are one reason for the programs success, but the real key lies in their creative summer theme.

Instead of choosing daily or weekly topics, Stephenson picks just one theme for their entire summer. All of their days, from June to August, incorporate the theme in some way. Last summer brought pirate fleets, ship crews, and the high seas to the school's hallways. They kicked off their summer with a playful slave auction where Captains (staff members) bid for students from Captain Cantankerous (the Head Pirate, aka the program director). The young pirates formed twelve ships and battled all summer long to prove themselves the worthiest pirates!

Of course, not every activity took place on the high seas. Stephenson typically divides their day into four chunks, interspersed by meals and snacks. In each time chunk, students choose between a variety of clubs that run simultaneously, according to what interests them most. If one club is not chosen by anyone, the last student gets to come up with their own creative idea. This model empowers Stephenson students to be active constructors of their own summer experience. Between this student choice-centered model and the fun themes, children at Stephenson enjoy their days so much that they have been know to beg parents to plan family vacations around their favorite program activities!
New Health and Wellness VISTA

Meet our new Health and Wellness Americorps VISTA, Annie Shaw! 

Annie is the Health and Wellness VISTA member. She hails from sunny California, and is excited to be a part of the OregonAsk team. She graduated    from Point Loma Nazarene University in the summer of 2016 with a degree in Business Administration. She is thrilled to be able to combine her business skills with her passion for child equity and healthy food access and lifestyle. She will spend her time developing the SL3 programs, working to disseminate the health and wellness curriculum, and will be part of the health and wellness advisory group.
You serve Oregon's children and youth, we serve you!
 
OregonASK | Wilsonville, OR 97070 | 503-689-1656 | oregonask.org


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