Upcoming Events:

September 17 - 19
National Conference on Science & Technology in Out-of-School Time
Coalition for Science After School & Project Exploration
This first-ever conference brings together a national cross-section of program providers, researchers, and policymakers in the growing movement for science and technology in out-of-school time. Sessions, including those led by TASC Science Manager Maryann Stimmer and TASC President Lucy N. Friedman, focus on research-based best practices and curriculum development and evaluation, with a particular focus on equity and access issues for underrepresented populations.

September 18
Community-Wide Collaborations to Revitalize Arts Education
National League of Cities
This audio-conference will highlight five cities featured in a report by The Wallace Foundation where collaborations among city leaders, schools, cultural institutions, community groups, and out-of-school time programs are revitalizing youth participation in music, visual arts, and other arts education opportunities.

September 25
The Global Youth Media and Arts Program: Immigration & Identity
World Savvy
The Global Youth Media and Arts Program (MAP) is an arts education program for youth ages 10-18. Through MAP, young people use their own lives and communities to examine a global theme -- Immigration and Identity -- using visual arts, performance and media. This program illuminates the connections between community and world affairs and helps young people learn to use art and media as tools for self-expression and community engagement.

October 1 - 3
AVRM National Conference: Power in Partnerships
Association of Volunteer Resources Management
The theme "Power in Partnerships" reflects the potential and energy experienced while working with volunteers. The conference will cover emerging opportunities managers of volunteer resources share in developing authentic, sustainable partnerships for organizations.

October 10
Building Stronger Programs through Collaborations: 2nd Annual Conference for OST Providers
NYC Department of Youth & Community Development
Objectives are to share best practices among youth services professionals working in the OST initiative; to capture information from the field to inform DYCD policy, practice and programming decisions; and to advance the field of youth development and strengthen the OST system throughout New York City.

October 13
School-Age Child Care Conference
Capital District Child Care Council
Annual conference will feature workshops on youth voice and choice in after-school; child abuse and maltreatment; bullying prevention; teamwork and team-play; and strategies for working with children who have attention deficits.

October 16
Lights On Afterschool 2008
Afterschool Alliance
Programs can host Lights On Afterschool events, which are great opportunities to build relationships and community visibility and to send messages of support for after-school. With Congress considering an after-school spending increase, presidential elections coming up, and so many tough budget decisions facing elected leaders, this is an important time to make our voices heard.

October 22 - 24
Fostering a Mentoring Culture in the 21st Century: Bringing Best Practices and Research to Higher Education
The University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute
The intent of the conference is to provide a professional development opportunity to researchers and professionals involved in mentoring in higher education. The Mentoring Institute develops, coordinates and integrates research and training activities in mentoring best practices in order to promote a mentoring culture and facilitate training certification programs of international prominence.

October 24
Social Enterprise Conference 2008: The Moment of NOW: Market Innovations in Social Enterprise
Social Enterprise Club & Columbia Business School
The conference will bring industry leaders, students, academics and practitioners to refine the role of social enterprise in a global market. Panels will examine the ways in which for-profits and nonprofits cross traditional barriers to enable the proliferation of market innovations in social enterprise - how social enterprise principals and practices are being put into action now.

October 26 - 28
Across the Street, Around the World
Youth Service Institute
The Institute will present opportunities for participants to strategize critical ways to think and act both locally and globally. It is the ideal environment for individuals and organizations to further develop their programs while learning inventive ways to engage young people as assets and resources on Global Youth Service Day and throughout the year.

October 30 - 31
Living In the New Normal: Supporting Children Though Trauma and Loss Institute
Military Child Education Coalition
The Military Child Education Coalition's Living In the New Normal (LINN) Institute is a professional development program that prepares school guidance professionals, administrators, other educators, and community members to recognize and address issues and concerns of children experiencing trauma, grief and loss.

November 4
FPWA 9th Annual Youth Day: Making Dollars and Sense -- Financial Literacy for Youth
The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA)
This year's theme is financial literacy for young people. The program will help young people understand the importance of managing their financial life, and discuss what measures may be taken to address financial challenges.

November 6 - 8
12th Annual Health Communities, Healthy Youth Conference
Search Institute
The conference theme, Igniting Sparks: Connect to Hope, captures how youth and adults connect with their innate gifts and creativity, and their efforts bring renewed hope for the future. Designed for people who work with or care about youth, this conference brings together people who share a common goal: to work together to create healthy communities for children and youth through asset building.

FEATURE
More After-School Educators Go to College
For the second year, New York City after-school educators are attending college classes that help them work more effectively with kids while they earn credits toward degrees. Some 110 after-school educators have enrolled this year in City University of New York classes at little or no cost to themselves, with help from The Center for After-School Excellence. For the first time the Center is also offering graduate-level professional certification in after-school studies through the Hunter College School of Education. Outside evaluators found that the first-year pioneers were highly satisfied with this college study program. Learn more about the evaluation in Resources, below. To learn about spring semester study opportunities, visit the Center's Web site.

Blueprints for Quality
The Wallace Foundation asked four experts in the after-school field (including TASC President Lucy N. Friedman) to identify obstacles community organizations face, and ways to overcome those obstacles in enhancing program quality. To read the series of papers, visit The Wallace Foundation Web site.

Look Up
On October 16, the Empire State Building will light up in yellow and green to honor Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide rally in support of after-school programs.



LEGISLATIVE WATCH
New York State
Due to an agreement between the governor and the legislature to make emergency cuts to the state budget, fewer young people will be served by many kinds of after-school programs this year and next. Governor David Paterson and the legislature announced an agreement in August to enact more than $1 billion in budget cuts over fiscal years 2008-09. Several state funding streams that support after-school were cut by six percent, among them the Youth Development and Delinquency Prevention Program; Special Delinquency Prevention Program; Runaway and Homeless Youth Program; and the Advantage After School Program. A special one-time gubernatorial addition of $9.8 million to complement federally funded after-school programs was spared, in part thanks to advocacy efforts by TASC and our community partners.

It is unclear how many children and teens will lose programs. At every level of the system, leaders are trying to find savings to prevent them from reducing services to kids and families. What's clear is that these reductions will continue.

With the state facing a $5.4 billion deficit in fiscal year 2009-2010, Gov. Paterson directed all agency heads to submit budgets with no planned spending increases for the next fiscal year.

For more, see the governor's memorandum on the New York State Budget Web site [PDF].







FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation Grants Program
Deadline: September 27
The Foundation seeks proposals to facilitate learning and student empowerment in environmental curricula, and to synthesize multiple levels of learning (facts, concepts, principles), including experiential learning. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Digital Media and Learning Competition
Deadline: October 15
The MacArthur Foundation, the University of California, Irvine, Duke University, and the virtual network HASTAC announced a competition that will focus on participatory learning, and will award innovators shaping the field of digital media and learning. The competition will include an online forum where applicants can post their ideas, solicit feedback, offer their services and connect with other applicants and potential collaborators. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Neighborhood Development Area (NDA) Programs
Deadline: October 29
The NYC Department of Youth and Community Development is seeking qualified vendors to provide a wide spectrum of programming to match the needs, assets, and priorities of New York City's 43 low-income communities, each of which has been designated as a Neighborhood Development Area. DYCD has identified seven program areas, which can be found in the complete RFP. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Spirit of the Community Awards
Deadline: October 31
The awards honor young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities. Eligible applicants must have engaged in volunteer activity that occurred at least partly during the 12 months prior to the date of application, and submit the application to a school principal or the head of an officially designated local organization. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Seeds for Education Grant Program
Deadline: November 15
For schools and nonprofits that have sites available for planting, these projects should focus on developing an appreciation for nature using native plants. Creativity in design is encouraged but must show complete and thoughtful planning. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

2009 New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Awards
Deadline: November 21
The Awards will be presented to up to four New York City area nonprofit organizations for excellence in organizational management. The Awards recognize management excellence and encourage innovation among New York's large and diverse nonprofit community. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.







RESOURCES
College Opportunities for After-School Workers: Report on the First-Year Implementation of the Center for After-School Excellence Certificate Programs
Policy Studies Associates conducted an independent evaluation that finds after-school educators are highly satisfied with a year of university studies through The Center for After-School Excellence. The report notes that 100 percent of the 94 participating after-school educators would recommend the college study program to a friend or co-worker; and 92 percent felt they increased their knowledge of working with kids. For more information and to download the report, visit the Center's Web site.

Measurement Tools for Evaluating Out-of-School Time Programs: An Evaluation Resource
The Harvard Research Family Project recently updated the sixth installment in its OST evaluation series. The updated snapshot describes instruments and tools for the field to obtain and use for on-the-ground program evaluation. For more information and to download the report, visit the Harvard Research Family Project Web site.

Youth Impact: Starting and Strengthening Quality Programs
A new online course funded by the Corporation for National & Community Service is designed to help veteran and novice staff of programs that focus on tutoring, mentoring, youth development and out-of-school time learning. Using interactive elements, audio-visuals and downloadable documents, the course highlights best practices used by effective youth-serving programs. To access the course, visit the Online Learning Center at the Resource Center Web site and create a free account.

The Evaluation of Enhanced Academic Instruction in After-School Programs: Findings After the First Year of Implementation
A new report published by the Institute of Education tests whether interventions of structured approaches to academic instruction in after-school programs (one for reading and one for math) produce better academic outcomes than regular after-school services that consist primarily of help with homework or locally assembled materials that do not follow a structured curriculum. For more information and to download the report, visit the Institute of Education Services Web site.

Toward a Systematic Evidence Base for Science in Out-of-School Time: The Role of Assessment
A new study, conducted for the Noyce Foundation by the Program in Education, Afterschool & Resiliency (PEAR) of Harvard University, recommendations how education leaders and policymakers can judge the effectiveness of informal and after-school science programs. The report calls for setting specific criteria for judging informal science programs in areas such as student engagement, acquisition of science knowledge and reasoning skills. For more information and to download the study, visit the PEAR Web site [PDF].

Understanding the State of Knowledge of Youth Engagement Financing and Sustainability
A new report from The Finance Project provides critical information on the costs, funding sources, financing strategies and sustainability of youth engagement. Included are also several profiles of youth engagement programs that have implemented various promising strategies to finance and sustain their work. For more information and to download the report, visit The Finance Project Web site [PDF].







JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Development Officer
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation

Program Assistant, Youth Career Development
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation

YouthLEAD Youth Advocate
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Cypress Hills Local Development Corp.

Director of Social Services
Location: New York, NY
Harlem RBI

REAL Kids Program Manager
Location: New York, NY
Harlem RBI

After-School Organizer
Location: New York, NY
NYC Coalition for After-School Funding

After-School Academic Leader - Literacy & Creative Writing
Location: Bronx, NY
WHEDCo

Program Assistant, AmeriCorps After-School Program
Location: Brooklyn, NY
CAMBA

Have a job to advertise in our eNewsletter? Email info@tascorp.org. Please visit the TASC Web site for all of TASC's job opportunities.



PRACTICE
A consensus is building that kids derive greater benefits from attending after-school programs when the staff has been trained to handle the combination of learning and informality that makes after-school different from either school or pure play. Since its inception a decade ago, TASC has placed training and professional development at the center of services it provides to the programs it supports. We've helped to build a New York City network of trainers who can help after-school staff get trained in the core competencies they need, such as managing behavior and providing strong program leadership. We also recognized that every program is different – some want to build out their poetry or drama programs, others may put an emphasis on community service. So we support a system where programs can choose from a catalog of more than 100 trainings, and the trainers will travel to the program sites for the convenience of program staff.

Over the years we've added more layers of training. In recognition of the fact that many programs for elementary and middle school kids hire high school students to be group assistants and role models, we now support programs that train high school kids to deliver lessons in sports, literacy and science, even as they strengthen their own college preparatory skills. We help after-school educators work toward college degrees by taking classes that focus specifically on the skills they need on the job. And we are fortunate to operate in New York City, where the city's Department of Youth and Community Development and other nonprofit organizations are continuing to build the professional development network for people who want to work with kids beyond regular school hours.

For more information on TASC's approach to training, visit the TASC Web site.