March 4th: OregonASK Virtual Partner Meeting 9-11am RSVP HERE

March 5th: Discover Science With Dr. Bear Register Here

March 12th: State Mask Mandate Lifts

March 15th: Process-Based Art in Afterschool (CoLab) Training Register Here

March 30th: Apoyando a los Jóvenes a Través de las Relaciones Familiares y de Mentores | Supporting Youth Through Family and Mentor Relationships (Delivered in Spanish) Registrarse Aquí

April 5th (or 28th): BE Physically Active 2Day (BEPA 2.0) Register HERE

April 21st: Build Entrepreneurial Mindsets and Skills in Afterschool with Scott Mann of Venture Lab

April-May: Springing into Summer Brunch Trainings

June 4th: OregonASK Partner Meeting RSVP HERE

In 2016, OregonASK's Director, Beth Unverzagt was selected by the Obama administration as a Champion of Change for Summer. Beth was able to participate in this panel discussion at the White House as leaders from around the country highlighted the investments being made to ensure summer is a time of opportunity. OregonASK has continued to inform and lead this work to advocate for sustained summer learning and enrichment funds.

OregonASK presented to the Senate Education Committee on February 15th and drafted a collaborative request for funds that was shared with legislators after the presentation. We were excited to see the Oregon legislature name $50 million for summer enrichment programs to go through the Oregon Association of Education Services Districts. The funding is part of HB 5202, currently awaiting final approval with the rest of general fund allocations in that bill. We will continue to track these funds and be reaching out to inquire more about the distribution process and timeline for accessibility.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will lift statewide mask requirements in schools and public spaces March 12th, 2022. OHA is currently working on distributing high quality masks to community organizations such as schools, to protect the high risk individuals who require access to masks even after the lift occurs. After the mask mandate is lifted in schools, school districts will be the ultimate decision-makers moving forward. Be sure to read the Mask Requirement FAQ and find access to COVID-19 Test and PPE available HERE for community Organizations. We are continuing to ask if and when summer and youth program guidance will be updated to reflect the new recommendations.

Afterschool and summer learning opportunities are essential for student success and have especially played a supportive role in the lives of children and families throughout the pandemic and pandemic recovery. Join the Afterschool Policy Advisors' Network to hear about the findings of NLC's new survey that describes how the investments and partnerships of local governments have evolved during the pandemic and the leading role cities play in recovery and beyond. City officials need to hear directly from the experts about how important it is to invest in Afterschool and summer programming in order to have effective change. Click here to register for this virtual event Wednesday, March 2nd at 11AM

Letter to Community Partners ODE is reaching out to community partners to gather feedback on their proposal that aligns 6 state and federal funding programs.

"By aligning these systems and programs, our hope is to create more time and less complicated ways for educational leaders to support students while addressing administrative confusion and burden, a long-held concern...we want to make the right work easier."

ODE is inviting community partners to discuss the vital role of community organizations and partners in helping this process come to life in each and every Oregon community. The session will include a presentation and 45 minutes of dialogue. Use the link below to sign up and join the conversation, Wednesday, March 9th from 3-4:30 p.m. Register Here!

The application for the School-aged Child Care Rulemaking Advisory Committee (RAC) is now live on the ELD website. We strongly encourage those who are connected to school-aged child care programs to apply. The School-Aged Child Care RAC is a group of community members who help agency staff shape and implement rule language for school-aged child care programs.

Individuals who decide to participate in the virtual meetings will be reimbursed for their time dedicated to this RAC and will positively impact child care across Oregon. If you're interested in applying, please complete the RAC application and submit it to [email protected] by Friday, March 11.

If you don't find what you were looking for here, check out our Training Calendar as well.

We will be offering this FREE STEM elementary-based training online this March. Participants who utilize curriculum and complete survey will be eligible for a $25 gift card.

Discover SCIENCE with Dr. Bear is a STEM-focused program that brings preventative health activities to children and families in K-5, using hands-on, brains-on, art-focused activities in a variety of settings. The activities focus on personal, family, and community health and introduce science concepts by making a personal connection to wellbeing. Earn $25 per program for participation in training and evaluation!

CoLab is a course of programming that provides youth with the power to work collaboratively and creatively in order to engage with their community while developing their own unique voices. Youth start by exploring painting, sculpture, video, animation, or sound and find a path for using these models of expression to provide meaningful, collaborative service in response to a local need. Through this course, youth will receive the opportunity to explore a community need, collaborate with an Oregon arts organization to plan and create an arts-based response, and will get the chance to exhibit the project.

Individuals who participate in this training will receive 2 hours of set 2 Oregon Registry Credit, be asked to implement CoLab curriculum in your program, will be able to provide feedback, and will ask youth to fill out a survey after the completion of the unit. Register HERE to attend the virtual training

Las familias son los educadores y cuidadores principales de los niños. Los invitamos a que nos acompañen en la conversación de como podemos trabajar juntos con las familias para apoyar el desarrollo optimo de los niños en nuestros programas. Conjunto 2, Familias y sistemas comunitarios, 2 horas

We invite you to join the conversation about how we can work together with families to support the optimal development of children in our programs. This training will be delivered in Spanish as participants examine their own programmatic systems which support the daily interactions between staff and participants in their programs. Participants will explore strategies on how to engage families in their programs as well as examine their current practices to understand how they can be more inclusive of the families they serve.

BEPA 2.0 is a school-based physical activity ”brain boost” program aligned to state physical education (PE) and health education standards. This training is designed for elementary educators and enrichment program providers. The training consists of two parts:

Use the link below to sign up and choose the time that best fits your schedule.

OregonASK is hosting its quarterly partner committee meeting this Friday, March 4th from 9 am - 11 am. We invite all incoming and existing partners to join in on this virtual meeting in order to receive updates on what the network has been working on, provide feedback to help guide and impact our work, and to connect and build relationships with other partners. If you are new to OregonASK, click here to read more about our work and RVSP here for the virtual meeting.

During National Engineers Week, OregonASK joined with Intel to provide the "Why YOU are an Engineer" event in which youth were given the opportunity to engage in virtual STEM activities with real Intel engineers! We hope opportunities like these can help inspire more young people to explore engineering as they build important essential skills for success- plus get to meet amazing real life engineers!

To support ongoing opportunities, Intel is also sponsoring the KATU Innovation Challenge, in which Middle School and High School students can submit their innovations and be mentored by an industry professional and for the chance to win up to $2,000 in cash prizes.

Students will

We encourage educators or programs to check this out and consider registering students. The deadline to sign up is March 15, 2022. Click Here to learn more or to register your team.

The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) is partnering with the NBA foundation to bring 10 college students of color to Washington, DC this summer for an all expense paid public policy internship program. Through this internship, students of color will have the opportunity to work on Capitol Hill or with a public policy organization and participants will receive a $4,000 stipend plus a $1,000 professional wardrobe stipend. Housing and travel costs are also included!

If you know of any college students who may be interested, please encourage them to apply via this link! The deadline to register is March 2nd. Feel free to reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions!

An Engineer Girl Ambassador receives training and support to be able to facilitate engineering opportunities for younger girls who are in grades 3-8. The Ambassador program is seeking high-school aged girls who are passionate about problem-solving and are willing to use their expertise in engineering to inspire other youth. If you have someone in mind who would be the perfect "EngineerGirl" encourage them to submit an application before the deadline of March 15th, 2022. Apply Here!

Find our previous Monthly Newsletters Online HERE and make sure to visit OregonASK.org for more local resources!

Make sure to sign up for our New to OregonASK Partner meeting on February 18th and RSVP HERE for our quarterly Partner Meeting online March 4th.