AzCASE is hiring a Sustainability VISTA for 2021-2022! The position will be responsible for the following:

▶ Organize, promote and execute a series of Lights On Afterschool events to draw attention to the many ways afterschool programs support students by offering them opportunities to learn new things and discover new skills.

▶ Collaborate with network staff and network partners to support fund development and financial sustainability efforts. Coordinate AzCASE’s Million Girl Moonshot Equity Training with Grant Winners.

▶ Engage in the promotion, evaluation and sharing of resources around a wide variety of issues related to equal access, diversity and equity.

▶ Collaborate with network staff to hold a professional development conference with a special target of low income and tribal communities.

Summer has set in across the country and that means the #SummerOfSTEM has officially kicked off. As programs across the country slowly head back to hybrid and in-person programming, this is an opportunity to reintroduce engineering mindset, role models, and reach out to families.

Million Girls Moonshot has shared the following STEM resources for out-of-school time programs:

4 Great Outdoor Activities to Do With Kids This Summer | 4-H These easy activities are designed to be suitable in a COVID conscious environment. Young children play outdoor games, plant a garden, make ice cream, and participate in a scavenger hunt. 

Art Infused with STEM Learning Activities Makes for a Colorful Time | This very simple approach to STEM uses outdoor experiences and art to engage young children in math and science discussions. The activities build on curiosity in young children and are very easy to facilitate. 

Design Your Own Snazzy Sneaker | Youth use an engineering design process to design a shoe that meets design requirements they specify.

Team Building for STEM Challenges | In this team building activity, youth work together to lift an object by by using a set of strings attached to a center ring. Each student grabs a few strings and must work together to raise the item in the center. The task requires concentration and communication and introduces the value of teamwork.

Hear Here: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge | The "Pi in the Sky" math challenge gives students in grades 10-12 a chance to find solutions to real-world problems all while using math and pi just like NASA scientists and engineers. This structured activity includes hands-on, minds-on extensions. 

On a recent weekday morning, I logged on to a zoom session of Mrs. Mathew’s summer science class at Greyhills Academy High School in Tuba City. A picture of two giant heaps of soil appeared on the screen, and then an image of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park.

Volunteers from the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) at Northern Arizona University were visiting the class to talk about extremophiles — microbes that thrive in harsh conditions.