Dear Afterschool Friends-

A very happy holiday season to all our friends from Kevyn, Michelle, Rachel, and Marcia.

Many exciting expanded learning opportunities are occurring across Kansas. One of the more intriguing for me took me to Hays, Kansas. I had the privilege of joining Dr. Paul Adams and John Ross at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) on December 5 for the ribbon cutting of their new Maker Space. During the event, Hays Chamber of Commerce members were treated to a hands-on experience at this exciting new resource for children, youth and adults. Housed at the Forsyth Library and managed by high school and undergraduate volunteer students, teachers, families and afterschool groups can reserve time to come in and play at a variety of stations. Classes are also scheduled for teachers to receive training in science activities.

Current opportunities in the Maker Space include spaces for experiencing 3-D printing and robotics. Additionally, the arudino area provides an open-source electronics prototyping platform for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Another experiences offers participants a chance to earn a badge by learning about topics such as the safe use of tools. The project area is flexible. If community members or teachers need a project-specific space, accommodations are made. Such was the case with a recent rocketry exploration.

Congratulations on a job well done, Paul, John, and FHSU. Your community has a fabulous new resource for children and adults. Pictures are included below. And, my exciting day did not end there. I was also treated to an evening of learning at the Science Café Paul hosts. The month's topic focused on -- Ison: The comet that wasn't. Thank you for a memorable trip to Hays!

Please let us know of exciting events happening in your community. These opportunities help us tell the story of the value of expanded learning opportunities.

A safe and happy holiday season to all. Keep in touch.

Marcia Dvorak, Director

mjdvorak@ku.edu 

Ribbon Cutting

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) on December 5

for the ribbon cutting of their new Maker Space 

Funding Opportunities

Clean Tech Competition

www.cleantechcompetition.org

Starbucks

http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/community/youth-action/grant

Join the Afterschool Alliance in helping nourish the young people in your community by signing up to provide afterschool meals.

Did you know? There is a federal program that can help you serve afterschool meals for free by providing funding for eligible children. Signing up is easy-and the Afterschool Alliance is here to help!

The Afterschool Alliance's partner, E S Foods, is committed to stamping out hunger-one afterschool program at a time. That's why the Afterschool Alliance has joined forces to identify new Afterschool Meals Champions who want to start serving afterschool meals in their program.

 
E S Foods can help you complete the process of signing up for the meal reimbursement, and can even introduce you to some easy, healthy meal options.

• If your program currently offers an afterschool snack, find out how you can make the switch and start serving meals to receive four times the snack reimbursement.

• If your program currently does not offer a snack or is not receiving reimbursements, find out how you can take advantage of this opportunity to provide meals-free of charge.

Click on the link to become an Afterschool Meals Champion http://afterschoolalliance.org/afterschool-meals.cfm

Resources

Expanding Minds and Opportunities: Leveraging the Power of Afterschool and Summer Learning for Student Success (Compendium)

The book is organized in six (6) sections:

• Section 1: A Focus on Student Success
• Section 2: Expanding Skills and Horizons
• Section 3: Recent Evidence of Impact
• Section 4: The Power of Community-School Partnerships in Expanding Learning
• Section 5: Afterschool and Summer Programs as Catalysts for Engaging Families
• Section 6: A Growing Nationwide Infrastructure for Quality, Expansion, and Partnerships

How to use Expanding Minds and Opportunities (Compendium):

• Professional Development
• Introduction to people to cultivate as supporters of your program
• Making the case about afterschool and summer programs to policymakers
• Support for speakers at conferences
• New ideas about programs
• Data points for grant writing
• Thinking about new stakeholders