February  2019 Newsletter
Congratulations to Next Generation Of Afterschool Leader Awardee: 
Ayanna Zamora 

We are pleased to announce Ayanna Zamora from the Woodburn Afterschool Program in the Woodburn School District has been recognized by The National Afterschool Association (NAA) as a Next Generation of 
 Afterschool Leader. 

  NAA selects a handful of   over 70 nominations  from all over the country of  emerging young leaders that go the extra mile to further the important and often stressful 
work of afterschool! 

Ayanna has shown her passion and persistence working in the Woodburn Afterschool Club to help it grow as the years have passed. We're very excited for her to receive this national honor, and we look forward to seeing her further important, quality afterschool programs! To read more about NAA's Next Gen. Award click here!
LEAP Into Science Week
Feb. 25th- March 1st, 2019

National Leap into Science Week is an annual celebration of science a nd literacy learning for all  educators, state leaders, and organizations across the country, to increase awareness for science and literacy  learning in community settings. National Leap Week will take place each year during the last week in February, to coincide with February 29 (Leap Day).

Leap into Science participants from 45 organizations around Oregon and hundreds more around the country, will be hosting programming or events, connecting with their community and/or other trained educators. For more information click here. Thank you to all the partners and community organizations who are supporting this critical work of getting science and literacy into community settings!
2019 Save the Dates!
 
February 15th- OregonASK  Partner Meeting
 
March 15th-18th- NAA Conference
 
April 12th-13th -  "Mind the Gap" 
Hosted by ORAEYC & OregonASK

April 22nd-26th -   Afterschool Profession Appreciation Week
 
May 10th - OregonASK Partner Meeting
 
June 11th-12th- Afterschool for All Challenge
 
July 11th-  National Summer Learning Day

October 11th-  OregonASK Partner Meeting

October 24th- Lights On Afterschool 
 
November 2nd - Oregon Afterschool Conference "Quest for Quality"
Upcoming Training with OregonASK 

Here are a few of the upcoming trainings OregonASK is hosting, to see our full list of trainings and curriculum click here and contact Katie Lakey for information on how to set up trainings.

Leadership in Afterschool Series - Starts February 22nd!
This training series will be geared toward Management level staff who can apply trainings to work with students as well as colleagues. The series model will allow individuals drop in on one or take them all. Topic include; professionalism, emotional intelligence, giving and receiving feedback, family engagement and more. Register Now for the first in the series on February 22nd from 10am-12pm on Emotional Intelligence. Contact  Susan Zundel with questions.

Leap into Science: Wind & Air
Oregon worked with The Franklin Institute and National Girls Collaborative to bring  Leap into Science content and kits to communities around our state. We will be starting with Year 2 and a new content focus of  Wind & Air on April 6th at Gilbert House Children's Museum in Salem. Register Now or  contact Rachel Kessler with questions.

CryptoClub
CryptoClub program uses games, treasure hunts, and other informal activities to engage students in cryptography and mathematics. It applies topics from middle school math standards such as decimals, percents, common factors, negative numbers, and pattern recognition. For more information  click here or contact  Rachel Kessler with any questions.

Service to Careers: Health Occupations
OregonASK is expanding our Service to Careers pilot to include a specific focus on health occupations. Kassy Rousselle will be working to adapt tools and resources and recruit programs interested in participating. If you are interested in having a club this winter or spring, please contact Kassy Rousselle for more information.

Employee Wellness
In this session participants will explore the importance of taking care of oneself, physically and mentally and how it can look different in different people. Participants will examine the effects of what we do for ourselves on a chemical level and how it translates to how we function in the afterschool environment with additional stressors of children, parents, and overall situation. If you have any questions about Employee wellness please contact, Kassy Rousselle.

Hero Elementary - Coming Spring 2019
Read more about this opportunity here. To set up or if you have questions about trainings with us, contact Katie Lakey
Celebrating Black History Month 

February is a time to celebrate the rich, long history and culture of African Americans. Many programs across the state can easily celebrate by learning more about traditions, food, and language! There is so much that we all gain from experiencing cultures different from our own and celebrating those differences as a community. 

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) has announced the 2019 theme, "Black Migrations". In celebration of African American culture and lifestyle ASALH is taking a look of the migration patterns and how those movements have impacted today. 

 To read more about this  click here!
21st Annual Fair Housing Poster Contest!

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon is hosting it's annual Fair Housing Poster Contest with a theme of  "Everyone is Welcome in My Neighborhood" . The contest is open for all youth, 1st-8th grade, that wish to participate. This friendly competition is a great way to educate our youth on their civil rights through artistic expression. The top entries will receive cash awards and the winner will have their design posted statewide! 
Submission deadline is March 15th, 2019.
For more information regarding the contest  click here!
Access and Equity Survey & Focus Groups

After an eventful fall, making our way around the state, we are working on summarizing survey and focus group data to include in our interim report coming out in Spring 2019!    Last month, we traveled to Woodburn and North Powder to hold youth and family focus groups, gathering insightful feedback from all who participated We are looking forward to hearing  more during future trips to Central Oregon and the Oregon Coast.

If you are interested in having your program represented in this work, sharing the voice of your youth, and telling about the impact you've made, please make sure to take one of our survey's;  the  Program Management  or  Site Staff Survey.  You can also find out more about our  Afterschool Access & Equity  tools  or contact Juan Soto about sharing a youth survey  with your 4th-12th grade students.

THANK YOU to all who have participated! We hope this data will help grow resources so more programs can reach the youth and families who need quality expanded learning opportunities. 
Oregon STEM Happenings!

SciGirls In Space!
This media and outreach project integrates space themed role model videos and gender equitable space science! For more information click here!


MESA Demo Days - February 16th & 23rd 

 

Feb. 16th  10am-12pm: 
Students from the Portland Region with be competing at OMSI. Register Now
Feb 23r d 10am-12pm:  Students from Washington County and Salem regions of MESA will be pitching their invention products and showcasing their creativity and talents to the community at Intel. Register Now
Reflections of a VISTA

The past couple years OregonASK has had a partnership with the Office of Equity through the VISTA Position, My Brother's Keeper. As January ends and February begins, our current My Brother's Keeper VISTA will be transitioning out of his role into a new one with OregonASK and The Department of Psychology at Concordia University. Before he ends his VISTA year, he wrote a reflection his VISTA experience on how it has impacted him personally and professionally.

"For me, the My Brother's Keeper VISTA position was part of a larger transition in my journey.
After nearly 10 years of direct service to underserved communities, I had run into my fill of frustrating policies, institutions, administrators and overall general ways of operating. I made the decision to learn how to become an agent for change and found Concordia University's Community Psychology Program.

As a quick aside, you may be wondering what is community psychology. I did too before stumbling across the field a few years ago. From the Society for Community Research and Action, "community psychology goes beyond an individual focus and integrates social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and international influences to promote positive change, health, and empowerment at individual and systemic levels."

The parallel between what I was learning in the classroom and what I was doing during the day was invaluable. I was able to learn theory and see in practice the same day. For example, I was able to use the Barbershop Reading program I was working on for Black Male Achievement (BMA) Portland as the final capstone for my community development class. I was able to do an in depth executive analysis on Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP) for my nonprofit management class because ORTOP is a partner of Oregon ASKs network.  Another example is I analyzed Measure 11 and it's disparate impact on young men of color, for my policy and advocacy class. This was done right after leaving a BMA Steering Committee meeting where the repeal of Measure 11 was discussed. The number of ways in which I was able to weave the work I was doing as a VISTA to the work I was doing in the classroom and vice versa continues to grow each day forward.

Beyond the work, my time as a VISTA gave me the opportunity to establish roots in a new community. With OregonASK, I was able take a snapshot of the entire state and learn how the larger statewide systems worked or didn't work. With BMA, I was able to deeply invest my time in Portland and connecting with people, organizations, institutions and systems focused on the health, safety and success of black men. The access and connections I've gained over the year has provided a platform to launch my career as an agent for change.

I would be remiss to mention the biggest highlight of the year of getting engaged to my wonderful fiancé who's had her own journey of finding her role and purpose as a social worker here in Portland. Together we've found a home here and are excited for what lays ahead.

To sum it all up, my MBK VISTA year has given me a community, a family, a home, and a purpose. My only hope is that I was able to give as much back to the people and organizations I've served. As my MBK VISTA year comes to an end, I'm eager to take what I've gained and pay it forward."

Openings to Join OregonASK!!!

OregonASK has two open VISTA positions ready to be filled by dedicated and driven professionals. The openings are both full time, one year positions: 

Health, Wellness & Safety VISTA - Work to increase access to high quality after school and summer programs through the OregonASK Health, Safety, and Nutrition Initiative. Work with established partners to connect out-of-school time programs to potential partners and resources. To see more or apply for this position click here.

My Brother's Keeper VISTA  OregonASK will develop strong links to communities of color, community partners (community colleges/universities and workforce boards) and after school and summer learning programs to increase access to high-quality educational, enrichment and mentoring opportunities for youth of color. 

For any questions regarding these positions , contact Bethany Thramer.
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