TheConnector

TheCONNECTOR is Youth Community Connections’ (YCC) communication tool for sharing updates and for seeking action from its partners. TheCONNECTOR contains the following highlights:

RECENT NEWS AND EVENTS
Mankato Convenes Key Stakeholders to Discuss Out-of-School Time Opportunities for Youth
Minnesota to Host Mayoral Summits on Afterschool Learning Opportunities
Minnesota Community Pride Showcase
Neighborhood Partnerships for Community Research (NPCR) Invites Proposals for the Fall 2011 Semester
ISD 622 Community Education's Youth Leadership Council

NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Afterschool and Working Families in the Wake of the Recession
Ready by 21 State Policy Survey

POLICY AND ADVOCACY
Policy and Advocacy Committee Meeting
Legislative Update

FUTURE EVENTS
National Summer Learning Day
Build a Better Mentoring Program Budget Webinar
National Institute on Out-of-School Time Summer Seminars
College of St. Scholastica 21st Century Teaching and Learning Conference
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless 2011 Statewide Conference: Building Strong Communities through Innovative Practices and Partnerships: Call for Presenters

Mankato Convenes Key Stakeholders to Discuss Out-of-School Time Opportunities for Youth
The Greater Mankato Area United Way has invited community stakeholders together to discuss providing opportunities for all youth to learn, lead and grow in their community.  This forum will provide community members an opportunity to learn what youth are doing when they are not in school.  For more information about this community forum visit the Greater Mankato Area United Way website.

Youth Community Connections is supporting this type of community forum in five communities across the State over the next six months.  These forums are part of YCC's community capacity building pilots.  They are designed to provide opportunities for communities to build their local capacity to deliver high quality learning experiences for children and youth beyond the school day and year.  

Minnesota to Host Mayoral Summits on Afterschool Learning Opportunities
Local officials across the country are stressing the need for before and afterschool programs, summer activities and other out-of-school time learning opportunities for youth. To strengthen ways that city and state leaders collaborate to provide these opportunities, the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute) has selected nine statewide afterschool networks from across the country to host mayoral summits on expanding access to afterschool programs and building citywide out-of-school time (OST) systems.  Minnesota is proud to be one of the states receiving technical and financial assistance to host a Mayoral Summit in early 2012. Below is a list of Youth Community Connections' state and regional partners

Statewide partners:

1. League of Minnesota Cities
2. Minnesota School Boards Association
3. Minnesota Department of Education
4. University of Minnesota Extension, Center for Youth Development
5. Minnesota Alliance With Youth
6. Search Institute

Regional or local partners:

1. Greater Twin Cities United Way
2. Greater Area Mankato United Way
3. Minneapolis Community Education
4. City of Minneapolis 
5. City of St. Paul
6. OST Minnesota (working name)

Minnesota Community Pride Showcase
InCommons is encouraging Minnesota towns and neighborhoods to showcase and share the collaborative work occurring across the State of Minnesota. Sharing these best practices—with neighbors and across America—is also equally important.

Youth Community Connections encourages you to tell them about your work to improve the lives of children and youth in Minnesota towns and neighborhoods. Enter between June 14 and July 11 at 5 p.m. CDT.http://www.incommons.org/en-us/node/4270.

Neighborhood Partnerships for Community Research (NPCR) Invites Proposals for the Fall 2011 Semester
Neighborhood Partnerships for Community Research (NPCR) is inviting proposals for the fall 2011 semester. NPCR is a consortium of Twin Cities colleges, universities, and community organizations that partner with neighborhood and community organizations on applied research projects. Organizations define and direct their research projects, and NPCR recruits and funds research assistance for the project.

Follow the link below to apply on-line.

http://www.cura.umn.edu/Programs/ApplicationProcess.php

The deadline for project proposals is June 30th, 2011. Approved projects will run from August 29, 2011 to January 11, 2012.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss a project idea, please contact the NPCR Director, Kris Nelson (612-625-1020, ksn@umn.edu) or Jeff Corn (612-625-0744, jcorn@umn.edu).

ISD 622 Community Education's Youth Leadership Council
This month, Youth Community Connections would like to recognize ISD 622 Community Education's Youth Leadership Council for its outstanding coordination of out-of-school time programs. YLC recently received an opportunity to present at the National Service-Learning Conference in Atlanta to showcase their program on service-learning and youth development.

The Youth Leadership Council is operated by ISD 622 Community Education and receives funds from the Educational Equity Alliance. The council is comprised of high school students from both Independent School District (ISD) 622 (North St. Paul, Maplewood, and Oakdale) and ISD 832 (Mahtomedi) who meet once or twice per month and receive training to help guide and plan youth development programs.  YLC seeks to provide input to ISD 622 and 832 that increases: a) student achievement, b) student leadership, c) service-learning opportunities, d) integrated learning, e) cultural competency, f) positive youth/adult relationships, g) student engagement in afterschool programs/out-of-school time, and g) career exploration. For more information about the YLC or ways to partner, please contact Angelica Torralba-Olague, Youth Program Coordinator & YLC Manager, atorralba-olague@isd622.org or 651-748-7446.

We wish to congratulate the staff and youth of the Youth Leadership Council! We look forward to the continued success of your program and high quality service to the youth of Minnesota!

NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES

Check out some of the latest research on after school, youth engagement and quality improvement on YCC’s website under latest research.

Afterschool and Working Families in the Wake of the Recession
The Afterschool Alliance released a policy brief in April outlining the impact of the recession on working families and their ability to provide learning opportunities beyond the classroom and over the summer.  For more information click here.

Ready by 21 State Policy Survey: Child and Youth Policy Coordinating Bodies in the U.S.
The Forum for Youth Investment and RAND Corporation surveyed child and youth policy coordinating bodies to learn who was doing what and what type of impact they were making.  To learn more click here.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY UPDATES

Policy and Advocacy Committee Meeting
There will be no Policy and Advocacy Committee Meetings during the 2011 summer. Stay tuned for the final Legislative Update after the approval of the FY 2012-2013 budget. 

Legislative Update
Republican leadership and the Governor began meeting shortly after the 2011 Legislative Session adjourned to work through budget agreements.  Governor Dayton has agreed to meet with legislative leaders several times a week, and his administration will also meet with committee chairs to work out differences on individual budget bills.  The Governor and the Legislative Leaders are still in disagreement regarding the total revenue and spending marks for Fiscal Year 2012-2013.  

As of June 6, 2011, Republican leadership agreed to spending proposals outlined in the Governor’s Budget in K-12 Education & Public Safety. This agreement between legislators and the Governor will result in the resolution of nearly half of the state budget if approved by the whole legislative body.  Governor Dayton did not give any indication if he would agree to the proposal, however, he mentioned he was encouraged by the offer.

Republicans called for a special session June 27-29, 2011.  No official dates have been scheduled yet. 

FUTURE EVENTS

National Summer Learning Day
The National Summer Learning Association is sponsoring The National Summer Learning Day on June 21 - a great opportunity to showcase your program and get the word out about the importance of summer learning. The Association is offering an archived webinar series; each webinar looks at a component of the planning process and offers suggestions for planning a Summer Learning Day event. Check out the archived webinars and learn more about National Summer Learning Day here.

Build a Better Mentoring Program Budget Webinar 
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota will be partnering with Michael Anderson from the Nonprofits Assistance Fund to help mentoring programs get a jump start on their 2012 budgeting process. In this webinar on July 6 from Noon to1:00 p.m., learn to create an effective budget process that will get everyone involved and ensure that your budget document reflects your organization's mission, strategic plan, and programmatic priorities for the upcoming year. Learn More & Register

National Institute on Out-of-School Time Summer Seminars

Seminar A: Looking Forward, Looking Back: Preparing the Next Generation of OST Leaders
This workshop is for OST leaders and, if possible, their director/mentor(who may be planning to retire in the next five years and can prime their successor) for a unique dialogue about the leadership qualities and skills it will take to address the challenges the field faces today and in the future.

The seminar will build off of the five leadership principles developed by the Rockwood Leadership Institute: Purpose, Vision, Partnership, Resilience, and Performance. Through reflection and dialogue, attendees will unpack each of these principles in depth, uncovering the meaning they hold for dayto-day work and how to put them to practice in our collective efforts. Participants will explore how to develop and communicate a unified vision, advocate for their programs, navigate increasingly complex policy and funding environments, and manage change.

The seminar will also include opportunities for current leaders to share the challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve addressed them. Finally, current and “next generation” leaders will work together to develop innovative solutions to the challenges “next generation” leaders can anticipate as they move into leadership positions. For more information, click here.

Seminar B: Afterschool Program Assessment System
This workshop will prepare participants to use APAS - a comprehensive evaluation system designed to help afterschool programs improve their program quality and reach their desired outcomes for children and youth. APAS is the only assessment system available that helps afterschool programs link quality and youth outcomes together in a comprehensive, flexible and integrated fashion. For more information, click here. 

Seminar C: Links to Learning for Trainers
This training facilitated by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time is designed as a train-the-trainer for those who wish to instruct afterschool staff at their own site(s) or at programs under their umbrella. There is a $250 surcharge for this training over the registration price which covers a one year license for each attendee (non transferable) to instruct Links to Learning at their program(s) or others up to five times.

This training will help attendees learn how to create afterschool programming that effectively connects children's multiple worlds (home, school, afterschool, peers and community), building on the latest research on topics such as resiliency, homework support, and youth engagement. For more information, click here.

Seminar D: Quality Advisor Training
This training will prepare participants to provide technical assistance to afterschool programs working on quality improvement. Attendees will learn the skills of observation, analysis, and problem-solving to assess and counsel programs using a variety of tools including ASQ (Assessing School Age Quality) and APT (Assessment of Afterschool Program Practices Tool). For more information, click here.

The early bird registration deadline is June 7 and the final deadline is June 20.  Click here for more information and to register.

College of St. Scholastica 21st Century Teaching and Learning Conference
College of St. Scholastica will be hosting a one-day conference for educators, higher education faculty, college students and other learning practitioners to develop and exchange best practices in digital teaching and learning.  Presentations will include hands on workshops and research based current strategies to engage 21st century learners.

Where: The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth MN
When: Tuesday, June 28, 2011

For more information and to register, click here.  

Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless 2011 Statewide Conference: Building Strong Communities through Innovative Practices and Partnerships: Call for Presenters
The 2011 conference will focus on creating strong communities through innovative practices and partnerships. The conference will highlight innovative ideas that address homelessness through; Education, Workforce, Public Safety/Corrections, Health Care, Community Based Services, and Affordable Housing.  The location of the conference is St. Cloud and it will be taking place from September 12-13.  For more information on the event and to apply for a presenting workshop, click here. 

Youth Community Connections
200 Oak Street SE, Suite 270B ~ Minneapolis, MN 55455
PH: 612.627.0160
WEB: www.youthcommunityconnections.org