NIOST Announces its Annual Summer Seminar

The National Institute for Out of School Time (NIOST) will host its annual summer seminar in Boston, Massachusetts on July 14-17, 2008. Seminar topics include Advancing School, Afterschool and Community Partnerships; Quality Advisor Training; System Building; and Afterschool Program Assessment System. The seminars are in-depth, research-based events designed to empower providers with the tools necessary to elevate their programs. For more information, visit National Institute for Out of School Time.

Listing courtesy of the Afterschool Alliance.


Editor's Note: Interested parties are encouraged to register as soon as possible as space is limited.

BOSTNet and United Way Announces Engaging Families Conference

BOSTNet and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley have announced the upcoming Engaging Families conference that will be held at the United Way offices on June 6, 2008. More information from BOSTNet's website appears below:
**************************************************************************************************

Families Matter!
Creating Opportunities for Family Voice, Empowerment and Leadership

Join BOSTnet and United Way on June 6th for the 2008 Families Matter! Conference to celebrate family involvement throughout the ages and stages of child and youth development. You'll learn how to design responsive programs, enhance parent communications, and improve outcomes for youth of all ages.

Panel Discussion
Hear from empowered parents, leading experts, and staff from out-of-school time programs that support family engagement strategies for young children, middle school students and teens.

Special Bonus Resources for Families: Receive copies of the NEW BOSTnet 2008-2009 Guide to Boston's Before and After School Programs!

Workshop Offerings
Guided working sessions will help you adapt strategies to your own programs. Click here for a description of each workshop.
Topics include:

* Including Family Voice and Leadership in your Programs: Going Beyond Family Night
* Developing a Family Focused Staff
* The Power of the 2 Minute Check-in at Pick-Up Time
* Engaging Families in Programs with Teens
* Accessing Community Cultural Resources

Event date: Friday, June 6, 2008
Time: 8:30 am- 12:30 pm
Location: United Way, 51 Sleeper Street, 1st floor Boston, MA 02210
Cost: This is a free event (breakfast and lunch included)

Questions? Contact Manosi Datta, Program Director, Evaluation and Operations at BOSTnet at 617.720.1290 x 210 or datta@bostnet.org.

Lawrence Music Afterschool Program Profiled

"For many at-risk youth in Lawrence, the violin offers a path to a gang-free life. Kids are "in gangs because they lack a sense of identity and belonging," Marcia Lier, director of Community Strings of Lawrence, told the Boston Globe. "A lot of kids in our program have difficult home lives, but [playing the violin] builds such self-confidence, such pride. I've seen some big-time attitudes fall by the wayside." Community Strings offers free violin lessons before, during and after school, on Saturdays and throughout the summer to more than 75 students in second through eighth grades. The program teaches students to give back to the community as well, scheduling performances in local hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers."

Listing courtesy of the Afterschool Alliance.


Editor's note: This is an example of an arts-based afterschool program and how the arts provide engaging and enriching alternatives for the Commonwealth's young people that can make a real difference in their lives.

Massachusetts House Votes Increases in Afterschool Line Items

This past week-end, the Massachusetts House of Representatives finalized their budget for FY09. It is exciting to share that several statewide programs that fund afterschool programs saw important increases. This is particularly exciting considering the current fiscal climate in the state.

Representative Marie St. Fleur, the Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time, was successful in her efforts to increase funding for the Afterschool and Out-of-School Time (ASOST) Program Quality grant from $2M last year to $5M this year.

The Shannon Grant Program which provides funding for afterschool programs as part of its gang prevention efforts, saw a $2M increase from last year. Now $13M is available for funding statewide instead of $11M.

The Department of Public Health's Youth Violence Prevention grant also received more funding - $3M this year versus $2M from last year.

The Extended Learning Time Initiative also received more funding in the House budget. Funded last year at $13M, now $17.5M is available statewide to continue to help schools lengthen their school day.

The Senate will be releasing their version of the state budget later this month and it is hoped that the Senate will also recognize the value of afterschool programs as they deliberate the budget.

Great to see you all yesterday

Howdy folks - great to see you all at the 21CCLC Coordinator meeting yesterday. I hope the little primer on the blog was helpful to folks as we continue to figure out the best ways to get information to you.

Do contact me if you have any questions about how to use the blog at dmclaughlin@kunnusta.com.

Cheers,

Deb

SAYO-Y Due Date

The due date for completed SAYO-Y surveys will be June 13, 2008.

New Grants Database on Corporate Donations Announced

The NonProfit Times and NOZASEARCH recently unveiled a searchable database of more than 4,000 $1 million-plus corporate donations. The free service requires no registration and individuals can search for specific businesses or create an instant list by location or cause.

Listing courtesy of the Afterschool Alliance.