Archive - 2019 Illinois 21st CCLC Spring Conference
Wednesday, May 9, 2019
Bloomington-Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Bloomington-Normal, IL
Description
The conference is designed to provide a forum for Illinois 21st CCLC grantees, their program partners, program evaluators, and other afterschool professionals to engage in conversations about best practices, strategies, and information relevant for building, managing, and implementing quality afterschool programs. The conference is organized in three major strands comprising topics integral to our work of developing high-quality afterschool programs:
- Academics Afterschool
- Continuous Improvement
- Afterschool Enrichment
Conference Objectives
- To draw on the knowledge and experience of Illinois 21st CCLCs
- To share evidence-based practices and emerging promising practices that support 21st CCLCs in achieving their program goals and meeting state program requirements
- To create opportunities for networking and to increase communication across 21st CCLC programs
Handouts
Presentations
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| Keynote Presentation Resilience and Relationship: A Recipe for Success and Well-Being Caryn Curry, Mental Health Consultant, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Center for Childhood Resilience, Chicago, IL Resilience and healthy relationships are foundational components of children’s well-being and success. This dynamic session will support participants to integrate trauma-informed practices and social and emotional learning into their efforts to build resilience and foster healthy relationships for the children they serve. |
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| Brain Games
Kim Sellers, Director of Learning Support Services, Bureau Henry Stark ROE 28, Atkinson, IL Get your game face on for this ridiculously engaging session that will have you feeling like a kid again. We know students love the following: competition, candy, and crazy fun! Why not combine all three for this intensely active and entertaining workshop where you can learn some new games that are bound to get your kids learning and loving being part of your afterschool program? Not only that, these activities are connected to the Illinois Learning Standards! So, say goodbye to your Jeopardy PowerPoint and come get some fresh ideas that will lead you to educational victory and afterschool fun. |
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| Elevate Your Program With the Beyond the Bell ® Toolkit
Brad Lademann, Resource Center Coordinator, Missouri Afterschool Network, Columbia, MO The Beyond the Bell Toolkit is a comprehensive resource designed to give afterschool professionals the tools they need to run successful, high-quality afterschool and expanded learning programs. This session will provide an overview of the Toolkit’s structure and format as well as tips and strategies for putting it to use. Come join us as we work together to transform the Toolkit from “that big book on my desk” to “my go-to resource for running my program”! |
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| Developing Innovative Approaches and Partnerships to Support Postsecondary Pathways Michael J. Hannan, Program Director, Alternative Schools Network, Chicago, IL Alternative Schools Network (ASN) and their partners have long emphasized the importance of career training and work experience for all high school students. ASN will share ways in which their schools and partners develop opportunities through private and public partnerships to connect youth to the world of work, postsecondary education and training, and small business entrepreneurship. Workshop participants will develop goals for future partnerships and pitch their ideas to colleagues. |
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| Evaluation of Social-Emotional Learning: Strategies and Tools Sophia Mansori, Senior Research Associate, Education Development Center Inc. (EDC), Waltham, MA Social-emotional learning, or SEL, has become increasingly important in the realm of afterschool, as improved social-emotional skills is a goal of the 21st CCLC program. However, assessing SEL and measuring outcomes in this area is a challenge. In this session, the statewide evaluation team will share strategies and tools for understanding SEL, drawing upon approaches currently being employed by grantees as well as current research. The session will also provide an opportunity for grantees to share their own approaches to evaluating SEL in their programs. |
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| Connecting the Dots: Managing Your 21st CCLC Program Hershawna Turner, Education Specialist, You for Youth (Y4Y), Mt. Laurel, NJ Whether you are new or an experienced out-of-school time provider, the U.S. Department of Education’s You for Youth (Y4Y) portal has something for you! Join members of the Technical Assistance Team as they help you connect the dots of program planning. From assessing needs to staffing and recruiting students, from start to finish, Y4Y has hundreds of tools and resources that will help you plan and facilitate a successful 21st CCLC program. |
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| Keeping Positive for the Win Donna McCaw, President, School Consulting Inc., Macomb, IL How does one win a race of one? What makes for winning and what prevents it? Personal and, in turn, professional growth happen not through the answers we find, but through the questions we ask when seeking those answers. For this very engaging and participatory session, be ready to do some serious-and fun-work. |
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Making a Game Plan for Summer Learning Planning for summer programming should start at the beginning of the school year to ensure maximum impact. An intentionally designed summer learning program will help meet targeted student needs and decrease summer learning loss. Intentionality means providing targeted interventions and enrichment activities that help students retain and build new knowledge and skills through engaging, real-life, and relevant activities. This session will teach learners how to accomplish work within an eight-step process, explore components of high-quality programs, and get tools and resources to help you carry out a game plan. |
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Leap Into Science Maggie Kempel, 21st Century Community Outreach Coordinator, Rockford School District 205, Rockford, IL Originally funded by NSA grants, the Leap Into Science program is an integrated science and literacy program with STEM activities that started as a shared project with Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Free Library. Expansion grants were extended to 10 different sites in the country. Rockford School District 21st CCLC programs and Rockford’s Discovery Center Museum partner to offer Leap Into Science. Participants will learn how these units, geared for elementary students, incorporate both literacy and hands-on science activities. |
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How to Avoid Burnout and What to Do If You’re on the Edge Brad Lademann, Resource Center Coordinator, Missouri Afterschool Network, Columbia, MO The world of afterschool is usually a high-energy environment that comes toward the end of the traditional workday. We are constantly moving things forward and often “the end” is not in sight. This is a perfect set up for a person to become burned out. This session will look at how burnout can occur and offer some suggestions on how to avoid it and what to do if you find yourself feeling on the edge. |
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Lessons From the Field: Grantee Perspectives on Program Evaluation Sophia Mansori, Senior Research Associate, Education Development Center Inc. (EDC), Waltham, MA In this session, EDC will facilitate a panel of grantees that will share strategies, experiences, and lessons learned from their own program evaluations. What role does evaluation play in their program and organization, and who manages it? What strategies do they use for data collection? What challenges do they encounter in conducting their evaluations, and how do they address them? Come hear examples of how grantees are conducting their evaluations and learn from your colleagues. |
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| Utilizing Climate Data to Engage Families and Communities in Afterschool Program Improvement Jacob Thornton, Principal Consultant, Regulatory Support and Wellness, Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield, IL Family and community engagement is a vital component to the success of both students and schools. In this interactive session, participants will learn how leveraging climate and culture data can help design and implement quality afterschool programming. The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is a robust tool for gathering perception data around a school’s culture and climate. The data provides a snapshot of the school environment that can add context to student achievement, teacher effectiveness, and family engagement data. |
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| Healthy and Thriving Students Grant: Developing a Collaborative Proposal Brian Parker, Director of Middle School Programs, Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.), Evanston, IL This presentation will detail Y.O.U.’s experience in serving as the lead applicant to develop a collaborative proposal and comprehensive program plan for ISBE’s Healthy and Thriving Students grant, which is designed to support enhanced integration of afterschool community services. Working with three school districts, Y.O.U. incorporated activities that facilitate best practices in project-based/STEM learning, trauma-informed services, social-emotional learning, community schools, and parent engagement. |
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| Building Youth-Led Civic Engagement Projects With Y4Y Hershawna Turner, Education Specialist, You for Youth (Y4Y), Mt. Laurel, NJ Youth-led civic engagement uses project-based learning to foster opportunities for academic and civic engagement and growth. Participants will learn how to plan and implement civic engagement projects that enhance the knowledge and 21st century skills of students. Learn how Y4Y can help you design and move youth-led plans into action, and how to use evaluation and reflection tools to measure and document a project’s impact on student learning and the community. |
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Exploring STEM With Y4Y Hershawna Turner, Education Specialist, You for Youth (Y4Y), Mt. Laurel, NJ STEM-science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-skills are essential for all paths of education and for success in the 21st century. This session will introduce examples of Y4Y activities that aim to spark curiosity about STEM topics through inquiry and investigation. Participants will collaborate around integrating STEM skill-building into out-of-school time programs, sharing STEM learning opportunities from their programs, and exploring strategies for connecting to school-day partners and community resources around STEM. Please bring a laptop, tablet, or Internet-accessible device to explore Y4Y during the session. |
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| Hot Spotting Intervention: A Collaborative Community Effort to Increase Attendance Carol Frericks, Director of Student Services, Quincy Public School District 172, Quincy, IL Quincy Public School District (QPS) formed an advisory committee with community partners to explore root causes for chronic truancy of students. The partnership piloted the Hot Spotting strategy with community health workers to address a subset of chronically truant students for individual case management. By studying these outlier truancy cases, QPS developed systemwide improvements. The advisory committee monitors the Hot Spotting Intervention to build self-sufficiency with students and families. As a result, students are reconnecting with 21st CCLC afterschool programs. |
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| Exploring Quality Improvement to Better Support Staff and Boost Outcomes Susan Stanton, Network Lead, Afterschool for Children and Teens Now (ACT Now) Coalition, Chicago, IL Learn about the Illinois Statewide Afterschool Quality Standards, which are research based, to boost student outcomes. Utilize free tools and resources that can help you make quality improvement an ongoing conversation with your entire organization and external stakeholders. And begin to create action plans for how to incorporate these quality standards into your afterschool program. |
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| Turning Our Students Into Grant Writers Amy Hayden, Program Director, The HUB Project, Rochelle Elementary School District 231, Rochelle, IL This presentation will share information about how we supported our 4th and 5th graders in a student-led grant writing initiative to improve the refrigeration capacity at one of our sites in order to provide better, more filling, and nutritious snacks. Various stages of the project will be shared along with relevant research about students participating in their communities and solving problems. |
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| Escape the Mundane With Escape Rooms That Entertain Tiffanie Hobbs, Project Director, Christopher Unit School District 99, Christopher, IL Escape rooms are a fun way to involve students in their own learning. They provide hidden opportunities for students to learn the skills necessary to succeed not only in the classroom, but also in life. Collaboration, team building, perseverance, compromise, and reasoning are all skills that are used throughout an escape. As afterschool providers, it is our job to come up with innovative ways for students to connect to learning. Escape rooms provide a way to engage students, parents, and staff in a fun experience that is both challenging and rewarding. |
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| Project Directors Meeting
Illinois State Board of Education Staff |
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| You Gotta Laugh-Seriously! Clint Darr, Afterschool Regional Educator, Missouri Afterschool Network, Columbia, MO Laughter truly is the best medicine! Embrace the power of laughter and how it can improve your out-of-school time program and energize you, your staff, and your students! Learn about the physical and social-emotional benefits of laughter and, when not ROTFL, hear anecdotes, tips, and strategies for using humor and laughter in your out-of-school time program as well as in your personal life. This is a highly interactive, informative, and fun session led by a certified laughter yoga instructor. If you want happier, healthier, more engaged students and staff, then You Gotta Laugh! |
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