Current Events on the State Level

The 22nd Annual Spring School-Age Conference!

The Illinois AfterSchool Network and MOST, a program of Illinois Action for Children, are excited to announce Illinois' 22nd Annual Spring School Age Conference. This year's conference will be held at the Hawthorn Suites Inc.in Champaign, IL on April 18 and 19, 2008. It has been some time since this energizing and information packed conference has been offered downstate. Registration is now available along with the program with sessions for both days.

The featured speaker will be Steve Amick, Board of Directors of the National AfterSchool Association, (NAA). The mission of NAA is to be the leading voice of the afteschool profession dedicated to the development, education and care of children and youth during their out-of-school hours. With over 9,000 members and 36 state affiliate organizations, The National AfterSchool Association is the only national professional association for the afterschool field.

For more information please contact Marian Caselton at mcaselton@inccrra.org. To learn more go to the Events page.

Prevention of Electronic Aggression: The School Yard Bully Goes Digital

They are offered FREE of Charge; register now as some sessions reach capacity quickly.

Three Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for these workshops. Cost for CEUs is $15.00.

Please visit our website for more information: http://www.icvp.org/meetings.asp
0r download the registration form.

Go to the Events page for the schedule of classes.

University of Illinois at Chicago offers Master's of Education in Youth Development

The purpose of the program is to prepare individuals to work with young people in realizing their full potential as human beings and citizens. The curriculum has been designed to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills they need to create and administer programs that support youth in meeting the challenges of developing their emotional, physical, social and intellectual selves and in gaining a voice and place in society.

We are currently accepting applications for the Fall 2008 cohort of students. We are specifically interested in individuals who aspire to or currently work with youth in urban contexts. For more information about the program please download the program flyer. We hope that you will help us spread the word about this exciting new program by forwarding the attached flyer to any colleagues who would be interested in this opportunity.

Questions can be answered by
Stacey Horn, program coordinator, at sshorn@uic.edu
Allison Tingwall, program assistant, at atingwall@gmail.com or
Ana Valenta, M.Ed. Advisor at agarci5@uic.edu.

Nominate an outstanding School- Age or Youth Work Professional for a statewide award!

Do you know someone that deserves statewide recognition for their accomplishments, dedication, and/or passion in the field of Out-of-School Time? Nominate an exceptional provider or administrator for the Richard Scofield Award TODAY! Nominations will be accepted until April 1st 2008 with the winner announced during the 22nd Annual Spring School Age Conference in April 2008. Click here to download the nomination form.

Annual Leadership Institute

This year's Basic leadership training will be held from February 27th to February 29th, 2008 in Bloomington, IL. This is effective management training for School-Age and Youth professionals. This training will be conducted by trainers from the National Institute on Out-Of-School Time (NIOST) at Wellesley College. NIOST is a national institute focused on improving the quality and quantity of school-age programs since 1979.

This Basic Leadership Institute consists of three days of training designed to support school age and youth program professionals by developing leadership and advocacy skills and establishing a peer network within the state of Illinois. Topics covered during this training generally include: staff development, fiscal resources & management, managing for quality improvement and leading program change.

IAN has continued the second stage of the Program Improvement, by providing AfterSchool Program Advisors to work with selected programs on moving toward quality improvement and possible NAA accreditation. AfterSchool Program Advisors are an example of our effort to increase the quality of service in out-of-school time. Advisors are committed to the improvement of quality of service provided to Illinois' children and youth. Funds are available through the IAN to support purchasing items to meet program improvement objectives. Eligible programs are those that have been assigned an advisor through IAN. If you are interested in becoming involved with this project please contact Marian Caselton at mcaselton@inccrra.org.

We thank all of our current advisors for their dedication and commitment to the field. We look forward to working with them in a continued effort to improve out of school time for children throughout Illinois.

Current Events on the National Level

The Premier National AfterSchool Conference
March 12-14, 2008
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Please join us in sunny Florida to celebrate the 2008 NAA 20th Anniversary Conference in beautiful Ft. Lauderdale!

The conference will kick off on March 12, 2008 and will continue for 3 fun-filled, action-packed days in the sun! In honor of 20 years of success, we have designed a conference for you that celebrates your commitment to the after-school field. This year we are proud to announce new events, specialized forums, informative workshops, group meetings, networking, and celebration. Visit www.naaconference.org for more information.

The National AfterSchool Association (NAA)

IAN is proud to remain Illinois's affiliate to the National AfterSchool Association (NAA). We are very excited about new direction that the NAA is undertaking.

CS Mott Foundation Awards Grant to the National AfterSchool Association

The National AfterSchool Association has been awarded a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to support the development of a system that will help afterschool practitioners identify and select high quality trainers. The three-year grant is part of the Mott Foundation's commitment to professional development in the afterschool field. The grant will support NAA - and a Steering Committee comprised of representatives from national afterschool organizations involved in training - to develop a system for trainers to demonstrate and be recognized for their expertise, effectiveness and quality. The goal of the grant is to improve the quality of training that is delivered to front line staff and to increase the capacity of trainers in the field. For more information log on to www.naaweb.org

Funded in part by the Illinois Department of Human Services

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