Network accomplishments in 2010

Events:

After School Day at the Capitol was held on March 3, 2010. The event drew after school providers from diverse programs across the state to meet directly with their state legislators to talk about after school issues.

On May 22, 2010 the Network hosted its Art and Essay Contest reception for the winners of the contest. It was held at the New Britain Museum of American Art and was featured in the Hartford Courant. You can read about it on our blog by clicking here. To view slides of the children's art entries and to read their essays click here.

The Network hosted its first policy symposium on October 14, 2010 in Cromwell. The After the Bell: Improving Student Learning with After School Programs featured keynote speaker Earl Martin Phalen, as well as a panel of after school and education experts. The symposium was an effort to bring school boards, superintendents, principals and community based after school providers together to explore possible partnerships. A comprehensive package of take away materials was provided to each participant. The resources can be downloaded here.

Awarded Grants:

The Network was awarded an Achievement Grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in October of 2009. The three-year grant totals $225K and will be used primarily for the expansion of the Network’s quality initiatives.

The Perrin Family Foundation awarded the Network a $25,000 grant to support intensive consultation with five programs in Fairfield County to provide technical assistance and executive director mentoring.

The Connecticut State Department of Education, through CREC, awarded the Network a $75,000 contract to provide training and technical assistance in support of the 21st CCLC grantees including 21st CCLC grantees' quarterly meetings. A similar contract through EDUCATION CONNECTION provides training and technical assistance in support of the After School Grant recipients with on-site technical assistance to 40 grantees and NIOST Quality Assessment Tool Training.

Training and Conferences:

We held our third annual Middle / High School Conference on February 8th at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. Hillary Salmons, Executive Director of Providence After School Alliance (PASA) was the keynote speaker. Click here to read about the conference!

On March 27, 2010 the Network held its semi-annual After School Spring Conference at the MacMillan Center at Yale University. The theme of this year's conference was Global Literacy. Alexis Menton, of the Asia Society was our keynote speaker. Participants took part in workshops such as Creating and Maintaining a Safe Space for Global Learning, and Around the World and Across the Year: Global Learning in Summer Programs. The crowd also heard remarks from John Meyers of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut.

The Network hosted its first Summer Themed Workshop at Southern CT State University. Erin Ulery, Director of Professional Development at the National Summer Learning Association facilitated the day. Read about it here.

On November 6, 2010, the Network held its semi-annual After School Fall Conference in Farmington with over 200 in attendance. The conference was very "hands-on" and included a lively keynote speech with activities by Tony Streit of the Education Development Center. This year we offered three specific tracks, Director's, STEM and Global Learning, as well as CEUs from the University of Hartford. A special Director's Seminar was held on the previous day at the hotel. Click here to read about it and see highlights from the conference.

As part of our Director's Seminar Series, the Network also hosted its first Director's Conference specifically designed for after school program directors and managers on December 2, 2010. Bill Corbett facilitated the day. Read about it here.

Over the course of the year, the Network also brought workshops directly to after school program sites. Our Training & Consultation Service instructors conducted 69 workshops that provided training to 1506 staff on a broad range of topics. Click here for a sample list of workshop topics. We also provided technical assistance for APlus use for after school grantees at 200 sites.

Other 2010 highlights include:

In fiscal year 2009–10, the Network awarded a total of $11,630 in tuition reimbursement grants to after school professionals currently working in after school programs in Connecticut who take college credit based courses that are relevant to their work with children and youth. Click here for additional information on this program.

The Network continued to offer its series of free lunchtime webinars to after school professionals with a range of topics and speakers. Click here for information on past topics and recordings of the sessions.

We launched our first ever Director's Seminar Series, with workshops, luncheons and a conference devoted exclusively to after school program directors and leaders. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, and we hope to continue to offer these unique trainings and opportunities in the coming years.

This year the Network introduced Staff Meeting Starters designed to make director's staffing challenges a whole lot easier with a new series of professional development training modules specifically designed for after school program directors to utilize in their in-house staff meetings.

Each module has everything needed to conduct a professional staff meeting with engaging topics and hands-on resources!

In June, Michelle Doucette Cunningham was the keynote speaker at the United Way's 70th Annual Community Celebration in New Britain. Read all about it here.

The Network launched several social media initiatives including a blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed.

The Network staffed six meetings of the After School Advisory Council.

The goals of the Network are to:

• Create a sustainable structure of statewide, regional and local partnerships, particularly school-community partnerships, focused on supporting policy development at all levels.
• Support the development and growth of statewide policies that will secure the resources that are needed to sustain new and existing after school programs.
• Support statewide systems to ensure programs are of high quality.
• Build the Connecticut After School Network as an entity, with increased capacity to carry out its mission.
  

The Network has the potential to secure the financial resources and provide the guidance necessary to frame a broad vision for ensuring success of programs across the state.  We serve as a driving force in bringing stakeholders together to build public will and influence public policies focused on quality and sustainability. We build the necessary partnerships that develop the balanced and diversified funding needed to sustain high quality programs over time.  With this approach, the Network holds the promise for building the capacity of programs — and the field — to have positive and enduring impact on literally hundreds of thousands of children and families in Connecticut.  Please join us to help build upon these accomplishments and help the children and youth of Connecticut reach their fullest potential.