| Montana After-School Network January E-news
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Working Together to Increase the Availability & Quality of Afterschool Opportunities Statewide
January 2007 E-news
Best wishes for the new year! Thanks to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, the Montana Afterschool Network is now able to offer a new and improved listserv to help us provide afterschool providers and stakeholders with timely information, best practices and current events.
Special Event
Boys & Girls Club Day at the Capitol, February 1st
Over 200 kids and Boys and Girls Club staff will be at the Capitol to honor the 2006 Montana Boys and Girls Clubs’ Youth of the Year and to update legislators on the ways the clubs help our state’s youth after school. Thanks to the Montana Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs for organizing such an important event! Questions? Contact Niki.
Resources
Regional Afterschool Forums
Helena area providers- monthly HOST meeting will be Jan. 10th at noon at the Montana Historical Society (225 N. Roberts, Helena) Other meeting dates to share? Email Anita with the details!
Updated Afterschool Resource
Visit the new and improved www.afterschool.gov for program management tips, resources and activity ideas.
Looking for engagement strategies for youth programs?
http://www.nydic.org/nydic/programming/YouthMakingChange.htm#Program
Program Planning: How to Get Children and Youth Involved! School-age children are growing and changing as they move toward independence. They are also becoming more interested in planning and directing their own activities. With this in mind, Roberta Newman’s book, Training New After-School Staff: Welcome to the World of School-Age Care!, offers tips for getting children involved in planning The following is an excerpt from School-Age Notes: v Talk informally and directly with children about things they like to do at home, at school, and in the program. Ask open-ended questions such as: “What’s your favorite thing to do here? What could we do to make it better? What would you like to learn how to do?". v Post a “Question of the Week” in a prominent place. Select an open-ended question and post it in your Library, Writing Area or other prominent area. Provide paper and pencils and an envelope for children to deposit their answers. Use the ideas to enrich program planning. v Help children build on what they are already doing. (e.g. If children are working out a dance routine, ask how or if you can help. Do they need props or costumes? Special music? Do they want to organize a dance club? Invite a dancer to visit the program? Have a talent show?)
v Set up a suggestion box. Invite some of the children to help you design and decorate a suggestion box. Encourage children to use the box to share their ideas to make the program more fun and interesting.
Activities from www.SchoolAgeNotes.com:
Louis Braille, inventor of the Braille alphabet, was born on January 4th. Check out the “Games and Secret Messages” section of www.afb.org/braillebug/ to introduce kids to Braille. For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day make different colored hard boiled eggs, but then show how they are different on the outside, but the same on the inside. Kids can eat their eggs for a nutritious snack!
Funding
Building Rural Communities Program Grants through Montana Community Foundation
The Montana Community Foundation is proud to partner with the Steele-Reese Foundation to provide grants to assist rural communities in Montana . This grant program benefits residents of rural towns with a population under 5,000. Deadline is Friday, February 9th. http://www.mtcf.org/pages/BRC_2007.php
The Student Assistance Foundation Announces $100,000 in Grants for Montana Organizations
SAF's mission is to provide students with the knowledge and tools to pursue their postsecondary education by providing funding to organizations that share and complement this mission. SAF is interested in proposals that demonstrate positive impact for Montana students, such as: increased graduation rates, increased matriculation from high school to postsecondary education, increased completion rates for students pursuing postsecondary education, improved access to higher education for first-generation students and improved access to higher education for low-income students. In addition to the completed form, applicants must submit a budget by the Jan. 17, 2007, deadline. http://www.programssafmt.org/Programs/start.jsp?currentMenuName=Comp.%20Mission%20Grants&content=missiongrant.jsp
Grants Promoting Girls Education and Equity
American Association of University Women offers one- and two-year seed money for projects that promote education and equity for girls. Deadline: Jan. 15; One-year grants up to $7,000; two-year grants up to $10,000; http://www.aauw.org/fga/fellowships_grants/community_action.cfm
Allstate Foundation Safe and Vital Communities
For projects related to youth anti-violence. Deadline: Open http://www.allstate.com/Community/PageRender.asp?Page=funding.html
Research
Community & Family Engagement: Principals Share What Works
Informed by the work of principals, this paper finds six keys to community engagement that help leaders engage families, staff, partners and the larger community in the life of the school
http://www.communityschools.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=49
Training
Call for presenters for the Montana Afterschool Conference, April 18-20, 2007 – any one interested in presenting should contact Suzin at skratina@montanachildcare.org. A presenter form is available at www.mtafterschool.org. Circles of Support, a pre-conference workshop presented by The Search Institute, will help you connect with other afterschool providers, network and support each other, and give you skills to facilitate Circles of Support for community meetings, sharing the expertise everyone brings to table.
If you have information to share in the upcoming e-news,
please email amaxwell@montanachildcare.org 5 days prior to the end of the month.
The Montana Afterschool Network is coordinated by the Montana Child Care Resource & Referral Network with support from the C.S. Mott Foundation, First Interstate Bank Foundation, Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation, the Steele-Reese Foundation, Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Check out afterschool resources at www.mtafterschool.org!
Anita Maxwell , Coordinator
Montana Afterschool Network
c/o MCCR&RN
127 E. Main , Ste. 217
Missoula , MT 59802
p: 406.549.1028 x201
f: 406.541.9028
www.mtafterschool.org
Save the Date! The Montana Afterschool Conference, April 18-20, 2007 in Helena
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