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
YCC Launches New Database to Search for Funders of Youth Programs
YCC Recruiting New AmeriCorps Promise Fellow
Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on Education
Afterschool Alliance Releases New Data on Summer Learning

NEW RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
U. S. Department of Education Offers FREE Webinar
Rhode Island Mayor to Lead Webinar on Afterschool Learning Opportunities
American Youth Policy Forum to Host Webinar

POLICY AND ADVOCACY
NO July Policy Committee Meeting
Mayors Advocate for and Stress the Importance of 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants


FUTURE EVENTS
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota's Annual Conference
SAVE the DATE: 2010 Lights On Afterschool!
Summer Bereavement Camp

YCC Launches New Database to Search for Funders of Youth Programs
Youth Community Connections has partnered with Access Philanthropy to develop a searchable database of Youth Funders.  This online database was designed for youth service providers, out-of-school time organizations, and other stakeholders to search for funding opportunities for programs in Minnesota.  The database includes private, corporate, community and public funders of youth programs.  You can find the database on YCC’s website HERE.

YCC Recruiting New AmeriCorps Promise Fellow
Youth Community Connections is looking for a new AmeriCorps Promise Fellow for 2010-2011. This one year position begins August 15, 2010 and ends August 2011. YCC seeks individuals interested in policy and systems-building work. This individual will assist in the Supporting Youth Success Initiative, which aims to align learning in the classroom with learning in the community, as well as other educational policy efforts of the statewide alliance. 

To review a job description, visit the YCC website.  For additional information contact Laura LaCroix-Dalluhn at laura@youthcommunityconnections.org or 612-627-0160.

Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on Education
A ceremony will honor youth Learn where candidates stand on education strategies for Minnesota. Moderated by the St. Paul Pioneer Press education reporter Megan Boldt, this 90-minute forum will focus exclusively on education.

WHEN:       Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
WHERE:     Target Performance Hall at Open Book 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis

Presented by Growth & Justice. Co-sponsored by the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Minnesota Rural Education Association, Parents United for Public Schools and Ready4K.

Afterschool Alliance Releases New Data on Summer Learning!
For millions of children in America, when schools close for the summer, safe and enriching learning environments are out of reach, replaced by boredom, lost opportunities and risk. New analysis of data from the America After 3PM study measures the extent of this problem, concluding that three-quarters of America's school children do not participate in summer learning programs. Yet, fifty-six percent of kids (an estimated 24 million) who are not participating in summer learning programs, would likely enroll in a program, based on parent interest.

America After 3PM Special Report on Summer, sponsored by The Wallace Foundation, offers a snapshot of how children spend their summers and finds that the nation is missing a key opportunity to help millions of children succeed in school.

Click HERE to view the report.  Click HERE to review the Minnesota data.

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.

U.S. Department of Education Offers FREE Webinar
The U.S. Department of Education and its partners United Way Worldwide, National PTA, SEDL, and Harvard Family Research Project are proud to bring you a free webinar series on family, school, and community engagement, running April 2010 through September 2011.  These webinars are an opportunity for stakeholders representing national, regional, and local organizations to learn about family, school, and community engagement research, best practices from the field, and innovations that are making a difference in school improvement and student learning. Learn more.

Rhode Island Mayor to Lead Webinar on Afterschool Learning Opportunities
The AfterZones model in Providence, R.I., has gained national attention as a unique, citywide approach for offering high-quality out-of-school learning opportunities to middle school students at "neighborhood campuses."

On June 28, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Central Time, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline will offer advice to cities seeking to replicate this model during a webinar on "AfterZones: City Leadership for Neighborhood-Based Afterschool Systems."  In addition, municipal leaders from Nashville will discuss that city's initiative to develop a system of AfterZones based on the Providence model.  Other speakers will share findings from a new report published by Public/Private Ventures with support from The Wallace Foundation that explores the successes and challenges of Providence's system-building efforts.

American Youth Policy Forum to Host Webinar
AYPF will host a webinar titled Preparing College- and Career-Ready Students: Elements of Successful Programs. This webinar will take place on June 22nd from 1:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon Central Time and examine the elements of program models that have demonstrated effectiveness in preparing students for postsecondary access and success, based on the results of rigorous evaluations.  The webinar will be anchored by the findings of the new AYPF publication, Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond, and will feature two of the included program models.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY UPDATES

NO July Policy Committee Meeting
YCC will not host a July Policy Committee.  The next meeting is scheduled for September 10, 2010.  Please save the date and enjoy your summer!

Mayors Advocate for and Stress the Importance of 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants
From Maui to Los Angeles to Louisville to Little Rock and beyond, more than 40 mayors from across the country sent a letter to the U.S. Senate on May 11th pressing for increased support for before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs. The letter was addressed to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Michael Enzi (R-WY), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

In the letter, the mayors ask Committee members to "protect and expand afterschool programming," as well as oppose cuts to 21st CCLC. It was sent on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and was spearheaded by Providence, Rhode Island Mayor and Afterschool Alliance Board Member David Cicilline.

FUTURE EVENTS

Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota to Host Metro Mentoring Network Event
The 11th Annual Minnesota Mentoring Conference has been set for Monday, October 25, 2010, so mark your calendars! This year's theme is Quality in Action.  The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota (MPM) will again host the conference at the Continuing Education & Conference Center on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus.  Further details will be posted as they become available.

The Minnesota Mentoring Conference is the region's only annual conference focused exclusively on supporting quality mentoring. 

For more info including how to register, click HERE.

SAVE the DAVE: 2010 Lights On Afterschool
YCC is working to promote Lights On Afterschool which will take place October 21, 2010.  Lights On Afterschool, the nation’s celebration of afterschool and summer programs, attracts one million Americans to 7,500 events at afterschool programs across the country. 

YCC is encouraging afterschool and youth serving organizations in Minnesota to take part in Lights On Afterschooland help call attention to the need for afterschool and summer learning opportunities!  Begin to plan your own Lights On Afterschool event today.

For more information on Lights on Afterschool, go to www.afterschoolalliance.org/loa

Summer Bereavement Camp
Camp Erin is an initiative created and funded by The Moyer Foundation, a public, non-profit organization established in 2000 by Major League All-Star pitcher, Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen. The mission of the Foundation is to help children in distress. Camp Erin is a bereavement camp designed for children and teens ages 6-17 who are grieving the loss of someone close to them. It is a weekend-long experience filled with traditional, fun, camp activities combined with grief education and emotional support facilitated by grief professionals and trained volunteers.

The Moyer Foundation partners with local hospice and grief counseling organizations and experts in the communities where the camps exist. Camp Erin Twin Cities will be held at the One Heartland Center in Willow River, MN August 20-22, 2010.

For more information visit the Moyer Foundation website or contact Jenny Simmonds at Fairview Youth Grief Services at 652-892-2797 or Jsimmons3@fairveiw.org.

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