Indiana Afterschool Advocacy Newsletter
There are MANY opportunities for all of us to show and tell our success stories in out-of-school time. The Indiana Afterschool Network Advocacy Newsletter brings you monthly resources to help you connect to policymakers and spread the word about the power of afterschool across Indiana.
ADVOCACY RESOURCES
 

Maximize your impact by scheduling policymaker visits to your site on one of these national advocacy days:

Summer Learning Day 
July 14, 2016

LIGHTS ON Afterschool
October, 20 2016
Let us know how we can help you & share your plans!

317-822-8211
Our Vision: We see Indiana as a place where all K-12 youth have access to high quality learning experiences beyond the school day that prepare them for success in school, college, careers, and life.
OPPORTUNITY: Host a Lights On Celebration! 

Today, for every child in an afterschool program, two are waiting to get in. 
Let's raise our voices for all the kids who need Lights On Afterschool!

On Thursday, Oct. 20, one million Americans will come together at 8,000 events to celebrate the 17th annual Lights On Afterschool.

Lights On Afterschool (LOA) is the only nationwide celebration of afterschool programs and their role in the lives of children, families and communities.

Join in to shine a light on the impact your program is making! It can be as easy or complicated as you like!

Everything you need for success is on the Afterschool Alliance's NEW LOA website- complete with new planning tools to make planning an event easy.

A few examples:
  • Get ready for LOA 2016 with a series of half-hour lunchtime webinars! The 6-part series will give you all the resources and expert advice to help make this year's Lights On Afterschool the biggest and brightest yet!
  • Register your event now and start exploring!
    When you register your event as an official Lights on Afterschool celebration, you'll receive an event starter kit, which includes 10 free posters to help you promote your event, and make you eligible for cool prizes each week.     
Please let us know what else we can provide to help you encourage participation in your community!
FIRST STEPS FROM THE FIELD: A Real-time Look at LIGHTS ON Planning Around the State 
Evansville Afterschool Coalition -Tynesha McGlown from the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana

Why did you decide to host an event in Evansville?
We feel that afterschool programming is vital to youth development throughout the Evansville community. The purpose of this event is to highlight the impact of after-school initiatives. We feel that this event will help community members to support and foster after-school programming.

What are your first steps?
We recently conducted our initial planning meeting in which we discussed potential locations, ideas for entertainment, and action steps included brainstorming a list of vendors for the event.

When/where is the event?
We have a tentative date of Thursday, October 20th and the location for the event is to be determined.
ADVOCACY TIP: Share Your Achievements Locally! 
Here is great example from Austin Learning Center, sharing their success at the 2016 Summit on Out-of-School Time Learning Champion Showcase in Green Banner Publications!
UPDATE: SB251 Advisory Board 
On August 19, the Indiana Department of Education chaired the second meeting of the SB251 Advisory Board at its offices in Indianapolis. Stay tuned for updates from this meeting. 

Established in 2016 by the Indiana General Assembly, the Board has been charged to research and discuss quality and access to current and future summer and afterschool programs.

The Board will make an initial report to the general assembly by November 1, 2016. Board members include representatives from state agencies, education, youth development, and school-age childcare organizations from across the state. Link to the bill description:  https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2016/bills/senate/251