by Emily Emerson, Professional Development Coordinator

When I was pregnant I was always intrigued by folks who would ask, “What is it?” My usual response was “Human we hope” with a smile. Sometimes I would add, “we are going to wait till the child is a teen so the child can tell us what gender it is.” I got some interesting responses.

by Jessie Rymph, Web Communications and Database Specialist

You have probably heard about a teacher who, the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. died, taught her all-white third grade classroom about prejudice and racism by creating a situation in which they experienced it. Jane Elliott divided the class into brown eyed students and blue eyed students and told them the brown eyed students were superior to the others. You should watch the phenomenal documentary, A Class Divided, on the PBS website to see how quickly the students’ feelings towards each other and themselves changed.

“It would have been easy for her to treat the idea of prejudice the way other classroom ideas are treated,” write Chip and Dan Heath, “like an important but abstract bit of knowledge, like the capital of Kansas or the definition of ‘truth.’” Their book, Made to Stick, teaches how to express our ideas in ways that our audience won’t forget.

• Why are the Japanese really out performing us in math?
• How does the script of Trading Places relate to how I teach science?
• Can you really return tire chains to Nordstroms?

by Amanda Thomas, Education Policy Director

Each year, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation convenes teams representing Afterschool Networks, from across the nation, to share, learn and gain new knowledge and inspiration. The theme of the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks' 2012 National Meeting was: Preparing Global Citizens – The Power of Afterschool and Expanded Learning Opportunities. Afterschool Networks from 40 states gathered in San Francisco to take stock of systems, policies, practices and quality tools that networks need to support children and youth “as engaged learners” in afterschool programs.

Finally, as another participant pointed out, “We need to move away from ‘Arts Education’ as separate from ‘Education’.” It needs to become an integrated piece of Education as a whole.

• Arts Corps
• Art with Heart
• Arts Education Resources
• National Art Education Association
• Washington State Arts Commission
• The Washington Art Consortium
• Access Washington- Arts and Culture
• For Seattle folks, Thursday Feb 16^th arts education panel discussion with Mayor Mike McGinn and Seattle Public Schools Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield.
• Lastly, I’d like to share this inspiring and well-humored Ted Talks Video presenting a case for arts education. If you have 20 minutes to spare, I recommend.

Contact me for further information.  Share your favorite resources in the comments section below.

By Danielle Baer, Communications & Grants Manager

While traffic lightens and schedules wind down with the holiday season underway, there is a lot happening at the state and federal level that will impact the afterschool and youth development field in Washington State.   First off, earlier this week, Washington State was awarded a $60 million Race to the Top grant to support early learning system building efforts in our state.  We were one of nine states to receive the grant out of 35 applicants.This is a huge victory for our state! 

The grant will help build statewide systems that affect our overall early learning system, including school-age child care.   As a member of the Early Learning Action Alliance, a statewide coalition of organizations working to strengthen early learning supports and systems, and in partnership with the Department of Early Learning, School’s Out Washington will take an active role in ensuring school-age care is included in the systems building work.

At the federal level, Congress released an FY 2012 omnibus spending bill which includes a .189% spending cut across the board to most federal programs, including 21st Century Community Learning Centers.  The Afterschool Alliance worked hard with Congressional members to fine tune language around allowing 21st CCLC funds to be used for a longer school day specifying that efforts to extend the school day should “align with and complement, rather than replicate, the regular school day by offering a range of activities that capture student interest and support student engagement to promote higher class attendance, reduce risk for retention or dropping out, and include activities that promote good health.” View a table of funding allocations for programs impacting the out-of-school time field and learn more about federal policy on the Afterschool Alliance’s website.

On a more personal note, today is my last day before heading out on maternity leave. I’m patiently awaiting the arrival of my second child.  While I prepare for sleepless nights, the joys of the newborn days and the stresses of arranging for child care, I can’t help but think about all the policies in place that could use revisions and improvements to truly call ourselves a nation that puts families first.  Did you know:

• In the U.S., 49% of mothers cobble together paid leave following childbirth by using sick days, vacation days, disability leave, and maternity leave.
• 51% of new mothers lack any paid leave -- so some take unpaid leave, some quit, some even lose their jobs.
• The U.S is one of only 4 countries that doesn't offer paid leave to new mothers -- the others are Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho.
(data from momsrising.org)

A system that supports mothers throughout their pregnancy and supports families as their raise their children in their early through school years is critical to our future.   While I experience firsthand in my personal life the early childhood years, my work at School’s Out Washington reminds me everyday that young people need continued support throughout their childhood and education to stay engaged in school and make positive choices to help them on their pathway towards a successful future. 

Especially in light of the growing disparities we see that negatively impact youth of color and low-income youth, we need interventions at the ground level and systems changes that demand equitable opportunities for all young people.  As we close out 2011 and start a new year, we hope you’ll join us in our journey and commitment to continue moving forward in our efforts to strengthen and unite the afterschool and youth development field with the end goal of supporting young people in achieving their dreams.

By Janet Frieling, Network Director

I read with interest the article in the Seattle times the other day saying that Washington school superintendents are pushing for a shorter school year as a budget fix. In a recent study published by The Education Trust-West, and other groups such as RAND, The National Center on Time and Learning, shortening the school calendar has dramatic impacts on those children and youth who are already struggling. Yes, times are tough and budget decisions need to reflect these unique times, but do we really want to sacrifice the ability of thousands of Washington’s children to make a livable wage?

Low income children and youth and children of color are more likely to suffer if this approach is taken. Not all families in our state will be able to supplement additional learning opportunities for their children and youth if the school year is shortened. For many, this extra time may translate to more time in front of a TV or video game, or more time hanging out at the mall with friends. Is this really the best that we can do for our kids when research clearly shows us that more quality learning opportunities need to be made available to all children and youth to allow for experiential learning, increased social and emotional development, and more time to practice putting academic theory into daily practice.

The current school year calendar is already woefully inadequate in both of these areas-do we really want to reduce learning opportunities even more? Low income families will have to make tough choices and finding high quality activities for their children if the school calendar is shortened for extra learning options will not rise to the top of their list of “must fund” items.

Other states are actually looking at increasing school schedules by partnering with community based organizations to offer quality learning time in multiple settings-especially during the summer months. Across the world, the United States' instructional calendar is already one of the shortest. This solution will only cause our kids to fall further behind and the persistent achievement gap to widen at an even greater rate. Let’s look for other solutions to our budget crisis.
 

By Virginia Eader, School's Out Washington MSW Student Intern

It’s been a few weeks since this year’s Bridge conference. I’ve spent the time since then rifling through my stack of handouts and notes, reflecting on everything that I learned from the powerful two days. The workshops I attended were inspiring, the networking was great, the food delicious, and working with the SOWA team to put it all together was an amazing experience. There is so much I took away from Bridge that I could probably write five different blog entries about it. Yet, in light of this year’s conference theme of Racial Equity, I find it necessary to reflect on this one particular moment. 
   
I attended the workshop The Refugee Project: Walk in My Shoes, which was facilitated by World Relief. After a short lesson on a refugee’s process to freedom and realizing some harsh realities (there is only a half of a percent chance that a refugee will make it through the long process to a new home), we proceeded with the Walk-in-My-Shoes part of the workshop. Divided into groups, we were given a duffel bag, a photo album, and written instructions.  Each group was to become refugees for the next hour and a half.

I have to admit that I felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of “pretending” to be a young refugee seeking asylum. As a white person of privilege born and raised in the United States, my connection to experiences of a refugee fleeing a war torn country are minimal. The thought of “dressing up” as a refugee and pretending like I was having a similar experience seemed to only reinforce the relationship of power and oppression. At the same time, I understood the purpose of the workshop and the assimilation-style of this lesson, so, with a bit of reluctance, my group proceeded to put on our head scarves and read through our histories.

My group was assigned the lives of five 19 year olds from Sudan traveling together for over 10 years (much like the story of the lost boys of Sudan). Our instructions explained that we would have 15 minutes to prepare before beginning our journey to the refugee camp, which was located outside the hotel in downtown Seattle. 

After many looks from those passing by, we arrived to “the camp” a few blocks from the Sheraton where we were not so warmly welcomed (by an actor) and told to wait in line and be quiet until our names were called. Each group would proceed to a different station representing the different levels of the process refugees must endure to get a new home. There was the State Department Interview, Medical Examination, and Feeding Station.
 
Standing in line for our group interview the woman from the “State Department” called us one by one and asked a series of questions in tone of voice that showed very little respect. After accusing our group of not having our story straight she sent us to the “feeding station” where we received a small cup of lentils and a stack of card board with rope for our shelter.

 
As the man at the feeding station was explaining where we needed to go to set up shelter (which was hypothetically several miles walking distance from the camp) a security guard suddenly appeared and began yelling at us. “You need to leave, RIGHT NOW!” he said multiple times. We all looked at each other, confused, thinking at first that this was another actor participating in the experience, but soon realizing otherwise. He called for back-up on his radio. It wasn’t until the workshop host, who was also participating, took off her head scarf that the security guard changed his tone. We realized in that moment that we had just experienced a very real form of discrimination. As we walked back to the hotel we all seemed to be processing what had just happened. We returned to the workshop room to debrief and could sense a very intense feeling in the room as we reflected and made connections.

Now I’ve thought about this experience a lot since then, replaying it in my mind, and even trying to legitimize or justify the security guards behavior. But the truth is, regardless of his intentions, the impact was strong. For those few minutes, I experienced just a tiny glimpse of what refugees, immigrants, people of color and non-dominant cultures deal with on a daily basis. And for this, I am greatly impacted.

While we enjoyed two days of thoughtful and inspiring speakers and dialogue around what it means to submerge Racial Equity work into everything we do as Afterschool and Youth Development professionals, we must not lose sight or momentum. There is work to be done just outside of the Bridge conference doors, within our own organizations or programs and everywhere around us.

School's Out Washington has followed up with the property management where this incident occurred.   

The 12th annual Lights On Afterschool celebration is TODAY!  What are you doing to celebrate the importance of afterschool programs in your community? Did you remember to register your event? Would you like to find an event already happening in your community? Visit the Afterschool Alliance’s website for a listing of registered events (and to register your event) – there are currently over 50 events registered across Washington State.   And we’d love to hear about how you celebrated Lights On Afterschool.  Email Danielle with your event summary and/or pictures that captured your experience.

School’s Out Washington will be celebrating Lights On Afterschool on Monday, October 24th at an event in Yakima hosted by Northwest Community Action Center and Yakima School District.  We will hear from some great speakers including Nicole Yohalem with the Forum for Youth Investment and Yakima County Sherriff Ken Irwin as well as present our Afterschool Hall of Fame Awards to this year’s champions who include:

• Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin
• City of Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland
• City of Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson
• Tulalip Tribes Charitable Fund
• Pam O’Brien, Educator from Olympia
• Joanne Benham, Community Leader from Spokane
• Jack Albaugh, Community Leader from Fife

Take a moment to read a news story including an interview with Sheriff Irwin about Lights On Afterschool.  

Building public will and raising awareness around the importance of afterschool programs in keeping kids safe, engaged and learning when not in school is more critical than ever.  Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee began marking up the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of the reauthorization process.  Included in this bill is language that would drastically alter funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Center program by allowing these funds to be diverted to support the whole scale redesign of the school day. 

Senator Murray serves on this committee and it’s critical that she hear from her constituents here in Washington State about the key role that 21st CCLC funds play in supporting Washington’s kids, families and communities.   Visit the Afterschool Alliance’s website for more information on what you can do to help support 21st CCLC programs.