NAA’s Emerging Leaders of Color

The National Afterschool Association just released The Landscape of Afterschool Leadership: Considerations for Supporting and Strengthening Diversity (click here to read full report).  As part of that work, NAA is now accepting applications from people of color in out-of-school time who hold mid-level management positions (i.e. site coordinators, program managers, etc.) and would like to […]

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SEL Series – Check-in

What is your program achieving to include Social Emotional Learning in daily scheduled programming. 1.  What is your school’ s planning process for choosing the SEL program and activities? 2.  What tools, resources, training are your staff performing to  implement SEL programs? Is there a coordinator or planning committee to assure that the efforts of […]

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AIM HIGH GRANT OPPORTUNITY

A total of 26 grants will be awarded to support local afterschool, summer, or expanded learning programs serving middle schoolers. Take a look to see which grant category is a good fit for you, and apply! Three grant categories: $100,000 – 8 grants of $50,000 per year over the span of two years will go to […]

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SEL Series – Teasing

Why Children Tease  In a perfect world, children wouldn’t make fun of each other. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world- and teasing is a typical behavior among younger people.  With concerns of bullying in our schools and the impacts it has on our youth, its important to have knowledge about why children may […]

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SEL Series – Got Talent?

That Kid’s Got Talent! On the Lookout for Your Child’s Hidden Talents. Children with learning and attention issues may be more reluctant to try new things because they may already struggle with making friends, academics, and have some social and emotional struggles as well. Often, children are reluctant to try new things for fear of failure- that […]

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SEL Series – How You Say it Matters

“It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it”, I remarked to my father after he said “never mind, it’s fine I’ve got it”. I could hear the frustration and impatience in his voice. His words said, “everything was okay”, but I knew he needed help and was spent from a long day. I […]

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SEL Series – Let’s Focus

Using Seating Arrangements in the Classroom I was speaking with a friend one day and we got into a discussion about her productivity levels. She is currently a graduate student and also teaches. She explained to me that classroom and study environments are tremendously impactful on student’s ability to focus and stay engaged in the […]

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SEL Series – Thanksgiving #2

Be- the Thanksgiving you Want to SeeWays to teach gratitude during the Thanksgiving Holiday The Thanksgiving holiday is a great way to teach and model gratitude to children. Thanksgiving should inspire us to stop and think about how we are all connected, and through connection, we all help each other to improve each other’s lives. […]

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SEL Series – Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is not just a dinner Historically Thanksgiving Day is a National holiday in the United States that occurs in November.  In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is recognized today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. In 1863, amid the Civil War, […]

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How CT Celebrated Lights On!

Connecticut Cities Celebrate “Light’s On Afterschool” Thursday, October 24th marked the 20th year that the Afterschool Alliance has kept the “lights on” for afterschool programming across the nation. The intent of the event is to celebrate the role afterschool programs play in the lives of children and families. This year, over 10,000 events across the […]

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