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21st Century Community Learning Center Newsletter

by the Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance
May 2005

• A. How can PSLA help your program?
• B. Upcoming Events – Grantwriting Conference Call
• C. Program Spotlight - TIU 11
• D. Afterschool Resource – Best Sample Forms for Your Program
• E. Integrating Service-Learning – Project Idea
• F. Making Connections with Colleges and Universities

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A. How can PSLA help your program?

The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance (PSLA) is here to help your 21st Century Community Learning Center achieve its goals of providing children with a safe space, supervision, academic support, and enrichment activities after the school day ends. We provide support and technical assistance in a variety of ways.

Visit our website for all of our resources and upcoming trainings.
http://21cclc.paservicelearning.org/

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B. Upcoming Events

Upcoming 21st CCLC Training Conference Calls:

PSLA will provide a power point presentation for participants to download before each conference call. Each power point is designed to help participants follow along during the conversation. Additionally, programs are encouraged to use the power point presentations after the call, as a training tool for staff and community members who may not have been able to participate. http://www.paservicelearning.org/Initiatives/21stCCLC/Conference_Calls.htm

Directions:  At the scheduled conference call time, dial 800-917-9796.  Use the participant passcode 307129 then press # to gain access to the conference call.

Grantwriting Basics
Jeff Singleton, PSLA Peer Consultant
Tuesday, May 17 3:00PM

Grantsmanship will be distilled and reduced to its essentials, and presented in a way that can make it manageable and enjoyable for busy afterschool staff. An introduction to the generic elements found in every proposal, along with cut-and-paste, fill-in-the-blank templates to get ideas translated into grant-ese with ease.

Learn how to strengthen the evaluation section [always the weakest section in any proposal submitted in education or other behavioral research fields] as well as create a handy file system for gradually and painlessly gathering ideas and data for preparation of a proposal.

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C. Program Spotlight – Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11

Baby Sitter
by Nicole, Soila & Suyapa
TIU 11 Juniata County Learning Center Afterschool Program

In the beginning of the school year we participated in the Safe Sitter course. Mrs. Taylor, a nurse from Lewistown Hospital, came to the learning center to teach us the Safe Sitter course. The Safe Sitter course taught us how to be better baby sitters, and how to baby-sit for money.

The safe sitter course made us betters baby sitters. We learned what to do if a child is sick. We learned what to do if a child has an emergency such as choking, a bee sting, or if the child isn’t breathing.

In the course we learned CPR and First Aid. We learned how to make a room safe for a baby. At the end of the program we took a final test. Now we are all safe sitters.

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D. Afterschool Resource – Best Sample Forms for Afterschool Programs

The National Center for Community Education has compiled a library of "best forms", useful forms that have been developed at various educational facilities around the country. Forms such as permission slips, registration forms, surveys, grant planning, and a daily activity planner.

Forms can be viewed and saved in PDF format or to obtain a copy of the original form, just click the form name and select "Save" then save the form to the selected directory on your computer for later use.

http://www.nccenet.org/Grantees/ToolKit/BestForms.cfm

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E. Integrating Service-Learning – Project Idea

Window Gardens and Herbs
Small window gardens can be started in your classroom if the windows face the south and let in plenty of natural light. Consider growing herbs with students in your window garden . Herbs have been grown and harvested for centuries around the world for their natural health benefits, rich flavors and scents. Have students research the history and use of herbs in the past and present and identify the edible parts of the herbs (root or leaf). With this information, students can create a dictionary of herbs complete with Latin name, a drawing and a short definition. Students can present their knowledge and dictionary to a local gardening club or give a short presentation at a local health-foods store for the public or for the school cafeteria workers. Students can even suggest herbs to be added to dishes and research foods from other cultures that use specific herbs. If the students’ audience is receptive, a schoolyard community herb garden may be the next step to take. Other topics you may consider over the winter growing hiatus may be found at www.kidsgardening.com in the Teacher’s Room!

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F. Making Connections with Colleges and Universities

Making Connections with Colleges and Universities
By Hillary Aisenstein, Director, PHENND
http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/PHENND.html

Across Pennsylvania, in urban, rural, and suburban communities, colleges and universities are often some of the largest institutions around. They have a vast array of resources including human (students, faculty, and administrators), physical (computer labs, athletic fields, and auditoriums), and intellectual (expertise in a variety of subjects including evaluation). Yet sometimes, our school and community-based programs don’t take advantage of these resources.

Traditionally, American colleges and universities operate from a three-pronged mission of research, teaching, and service. Increasingly, institutions of higher education are searching for ways to help bring these three areas together. A partnership with a 21st Century Community Learning Center might be just the thing to help them do it.

Picture this: College faculty providing cutting edge professional development to 21CCLC instructors, college students enhancing programmatic offerings by assisting teachers and where appropriate serving as instructors themselves while at the same time they are learning about issues in education, faculty assisting program staff with the development of useful evaluation and assessment measures, and all the while everyone is learning more about what makes 21CCLCs work and how they can best serve students and the community.

This is not far from reality for some programs. These partnerships are possible but it takes a lot of planning and hard work to bring the multiple people and priorities together under one roof so to speak. While the goal is for a true partnership to develop – one where the needs and resources of the 21CCLC program compliment the needs and resources of the higher ed – this does not happen overnight.

If you would like to partner with a higher ed institution, think carefully about what your program really needs and what you have to offer. Think about the various areas on campus that you might want to reach out to in order to build a partnership. These may include the Community Service office, the Service-Learning program, an academic department, or even the Teacher Education program. Start with an open mind and realize that it will take a while to do thorough planning.

Most importantly, don’t go it alone. I have been asked by the State Department of Education to assist with the development of university partnerships for 21CCLC programs. If you want to partner with a local college or university, or you already have a partnership but want some advice on how to take it to the next level, please contact me. I have worked with several others who have been down this road before, and I am always happy to share success stories as well as obstacles. I can be reached at hillarya@pobox.upenn.edu or 215-573-2379.

True collaboration is difficult to achieve, but like anything else that’s challenging, it’s usually worth it in the end.