| Features | |
Student Drop Out Prevention
FERPA & Data Sharing
Health & Wellness
Awards & Fellowships
Professional Resources
Grants
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| Healthy Kids | |
Action for Healthy Kids offers a wide variety of virtual learning opportunities. From school breakfast programs and recess before lunch to wellness policy implementation and more, most sessions are of no cost and are open to any interested individual or group.
Fuel Up to Play 60: Become a Leader in Your School
January 22, 2013
2:00pm ET , 1:00pm CT,
12:00pm MT, 11:00am PT Have you heard about Fuel Up to Play 60 and wonder what the buzz is all about? Come learn about this program reaching nearly 73,000 US schools. Join the ranks of over 20,000 champions, called a Fuel Up to Play 60 Program Advisor in leading your students and your school to better health. You will learn program basics and what it means to be a Program Advisor, and how to apply for Funds for Fuel Up to Play 60. Each session is 30 minutes, post-broadcast recordings will be made available. Register now |
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2013 Conferences: | |
Feb. 20-23, 2013
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Sylvia Lyles
U.S. Dept. of Education
21stCCLC Programs
Ron Clark
Founder, The Ron Clark Academy and author,
The Essential 55
Hyatt Regency
Jacksonville Riverfront
Jacksonville, FL
Register Now! |
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ReCharge Curriculum |
ReCharge is an energizing after school program designed for students in grades 2 to 6 to learn about good nutritional and physical activity habits. In collaboration with the National Football League, ReCharge! is a complete, easy-to-use kit with lesson plans, equipment, and information for families. To learn more visit, ReCharge!. |
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Dear Followers,
"We all love to unwrap presents, but the very best ones don't always fit in a gift box." During this season of sharing, it's easy to forget that it's not about the presents, it's about what we do for others. This year, your continuos support and partnership with us has been extremely valuable as we strive to keep kids safe, strengthen academics, help working families, and build youth workforce skills. Highlights from 2012 have been varied and many as noted by the network staff.
Marcia Dvorak ... Our partnerships have expanded through the Kansas Afterschool and Expanded Learning Opportunities Summit and the Task Force created to follow up on suggested action items. Our STEM work has allowed us to join forces with many of you to increase exposure to fun, engaging activities for children and youth. Finally, efforts revolving around creating quality afterschool experiences and advancing youth development have multiplied throughout the year. We are grateful and appreciate all the efforts directed at providing quality programming and opportunities for our Kansas youth.
Kevyn Gero ... Greetings and Happy Holidays! This year, I had a wonderful time serving as VISTA Volunteer for the Kansas Enrichment Network. It has been a great experience serving as the Community Liaison for 21st Century Community Learning Centers and community organizations across Kansas. This project is dedicated to supporting afterschool programming efforts on sustainability and increasing their capacity to serve children. Also thank you to all for being engaged with us through technology. Let's keep the conversation going on Out-of- School Time in Kansas!
Claudia Conner...Engaging children, educators, program staff, and diverse stakeholders across the entire state of Kansas commemorated the Network's tenth anniversary. In celebration of this significant milestone, we hosted a statewide campaign, Kansas Afterschool Lights the Trail. The celebration highlighted the impact Afterschool and Expanded Learning has on children, families, and communities by showcasing programs that span the entire route of the historic Santa Fe Trail. As we move into the new year, we are looking forward to expanding our 'quality' work and enriching our partnerships across this wonderful state.
Happy Holidays from the Network staff.
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Student Drop Out Rates Increasing
Survey shows lack of parental support and teen pregnancy point to higher dropout rates
The 2012 High School Dropouts in America survey, conducted by Harris/Decima on behalf of Everest College, lists reasons younger Americans dropout of high school. The national survey of 513 adults ages 19 to 35 found that nearly a quarter of Americans cited the absence of parental support or encouragement as a reason for not completing high school, followed by 21 percent who said they became a parent. Other factors that led to students dropping out were missing too many days of school, failing classes, uninteresting classes, and suffering from a mental illness, such as depression.
According to Alliance for Excellent Education nationwide approximately 7,000 students drop out from school each day, amounting to 1.3 million students each year. In 1970, the United States had the world's highest rate of high school graduation. Today, the U.S. has slipped to No. 21 in high school completion, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. "The data from this survey is an important step in deepening our understanding of America's high school dropout problem," said survey spokesman John Swartz, regional director of career services at Everest College. "Americans without a high school diploma or GED test credential face tremendous challenges. This is why we need to continue putting our dropout crisis under the microscope and develop substantive solutions." Read full report, Student Dropouts. |
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Common Core: Now What?
Project-based learning is the ideal way to build speaking and presentation skills as called for in the Common Core State Standards.
The Common Core State Standards include specific requirements for student speaking and listening. A project-based approach is an ideal way to meet these standards. Well-designed projects, which often include a presentation, not only require students to build their speaking skills, but also encourage the sort of deep thinking that the standards call for according to Larmer and Mergendoller.
The authors describe a variety of projects showing greater depth and complexity as students move through the grades. In Kindergarten, students create a book about local animals and explain it to local conservationists. By middle school, students are creating multimedia projects for new restaurants in their community. Finally, High school students document the lives of homeless in their community and develop multimedia presentations to show both their parents and the homeless community members they interviewed. All of these projects required students to build content knowledge and present their work to real-world audiences. Read the full article. Educational Leadership, Dec. 2012/Jan. 2013, Vol 70, (4).
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Low-wage Jobs Take Toll on Families
A recent report from the Center for Social Research in Boston paints a bleak picture for parents with low paying jobs and its effect on youth development opportunities. With an economy fueled by low-wage jobs and so many children living in poverty low-wages will take an exponential toll on future generations. Read Low-wage Jobs Take Toll on Families, as released in the Miami Herald newspaper. |
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Data-Sharing
Federal Rules and Best Practices to Improve Out of School Time and Student Outcomes
The task of meeting the needs of all students and providing a well-rounded education is an extraordinary challenge, and at a time of shrinking resources and increased accountability, schools cannot do it alone. Research has shown that high-quality out-of-school time (OST) can have a measurable impact on the academic success and well-being of students. Thus, these programs are increasingly being relied upon as a key strategy to close the achievement gap and improve low-performing schools.
Research and experience tell us that coordinated data-sharing between schools and OST partners can improve the quality of OST programs and provide better learning outcomes for the students they serve. Unfortunately, the primary federal policy that protects the security and confidentiality of individual student information, know as Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), has consistently been cited as a roadblock for school systems and their OST partners to share student data in a coordinated approach to improve education programs and student outcomes. This policy brief seeks to demonstrate that FERPA can allow for data-sharing between schools and OST partners, and why it is a best practice to do so. By outlining examples from the field, this paper aims to pave the way for more OST programs and their school partners to use student data to improve educational outcomes and opportunities for all students. Read full publication; Data-Sharing
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Impact of afterschool programs focus of new annual report
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation's new annual report, Picturing Success: The Transformative Power of Afterschool, contains a special section focusing on the Foundation's long-standing commitment to increasing the availability and quality of afterschool programs. The report also contains: a complete list of the 456 grants made in 2011, which totaled $89,274,566. |
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WeCan!
We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) is a national movement designed to give parents, caregivers, and entire communities a way to help children 8 to 13 years old stay at a healthy weight.
Research shows that parents and caregivers are the primary influence on this age group. The WeCan! national education program provides parents and caregivers with tools, fun activities, and more to help them encourage healthy eating, increased physical activity, and reduce time sitting in front of a TV/computer screen.
We Can! offers organizations, community groups, and health professionals a centralized resource to promote a healthy weight in youth through community outreach, partnership development, and media activities that can be adapted to meet the needs of diverse populations. WeCan offers a science-based curriculum and toolkit, materials, and training opportunities to support programming for youth, parents, and families. The curriculum and toolkits are designed to help you run and evaluate your programming, activities, and guidelines for working with nutritional challenges for diverse populations. Visit, WeCan for a full list of available resources. |
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Resources on Common Core Literacy
To gear up for another semester, schools nationwide continue to transition to the Common Core Standards. Lauren Davis has developed elementary level lesson plans based around common core literacy in Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, K-5,
Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans for: Ready-to-Use Resources, 6-8 is an easy-to-use guide that meets the needs of middle school teachers. It provides model lesson plans for teaching the standards in reading, writing, speaking/listening, and language. High school teachers will find appropriate model lesson plans for teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language to secondary students; Common Core Standards, Common Core Literacy Lesson Plans: Ready-to-Use Resources, 9-13. To preview the books and receive a 10% discount, visit, Common Core Lesson Plans.
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C-SPAN's StudentCAM 2013
Student Documentary Competition
What is StudentCam?
StudentCam is C-SPAN's annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think seriously about issues that affect our communities and our nation. This year, students are asked to create a short (5-8 minute) video documentary on a topic related to the competition theme listed below.
Competition Requirements :
- The competition is open to all students in grades 6-12. Grades 6-8 compete in the Middle School category, and grades 9-12 compete in the High School category.
- Students may compete individually, or in teams of either 2 or 3 members.
- All documentaries must contain a small amount of supporting C-SPAN footage that relates to the chosen topic. Downloadable C-SPAN footage can be found here.
- C-SPAN's philosophy is to show varying sides of each issue. Winning StudentCam documentaries will also show varying sides related to the chosen topic.
- Documentaries must be between 5-8 minutes. End credits, if applicable, may run longer than the 8 minute time frame.
- Entries must contain either end credits or a works cited list. A works cited list may be emailed to
educate@c-span.org - All documentaries must be uploaded and received at
C-SPAN by midnight on Friday, January 18, 2013.
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Teaching Fellowships
Deadline: January 9, 2013 Source: Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) KSTF Teaching Fellowships support individuals who have exceptional science and mathematics content knowledge and plan to teach high school in the United States. Fellows will be chosen among men and women who have earned or are in the process of earning a degree in science, mathematics, or engineering. All fellowships will be renewable for up to 5 years. Learn more. |
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Letters About Literature
Deadline: January 11, 2013 Source: Letters About Literature (LAL) and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress Sponsored by LAL and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, students in grades 4-10 are invited to write a letter that explores an inspiring book, short story, poem, essay, or speech.
LAL awards prizes on both the state and national levels. Each participating state center has its own panel of judges who will select the top essayists in the state. State Winners will receive a cash award and advance to the national level judging. A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one National Winner to receive $1,000. The judges will also select one second place winner on each competition level to receive $150. Inquire into Letters About Literature
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Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award
Deadline: January 14, 2013 Source: Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF), Space Foundation, and NASA * Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award
The AMF, Space Foundation, and NASA will honor a K-12 teacher who integrates technology and education. The teacher will be selected for the quality and innovation of his or her teaching methods. The winner will receive $1,000, a trip to Colorado Springs, and a commemorative trophy. In addition, the award winner's name will be placed on a plaque at the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Direct nominations to the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award |
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Sodexo Foundation Youth Grants
Sodexo Foundation is offering young people (ages five to 25) $500 grants for youth-led service projects that bring together young people, families, Sodexo employees and other community members to address childhood hunger. Deadline: Jan. 31,2013, Find out more here.
2012-2013 Christopher Columbus Awards
The Christopher Columbus Awards is a national, community-based STEM competition for middle school students and teachers looking to make a difference in their community. Working in teams, students identify a problem in the community and apply the scientific method to create an innovative solution. Maximum award: $25,000 grant. Eligibility: schools (grades 6-8) and community groups. Deadline: Feb. 4.2013, Find out more here.
AAUW
Express Scripts
Real-World Design
The Kerr Foundation
Pets in the Classroom
Honda
ING Unsung Heroes |
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