In This Week's ACROSS Your Desk:

• Earn an SEL Literature Kit for Your OST Program and Celebrate #SELday
• April 6th: 2024 NH OST Convention: Inspire, Lead, Thrive- Annual Celebration & Conference
• ACROSS NH Mindful March Training Series: Registration is Open!
• 2024 NH Early Childhood Leadership Summit: Reimagining Self-Care Series
• SEL Corner: Mindful Schools- Mindful Monday
• Resources for Providers (Including Tuition Assistance for OST!)
• Upcoming ACROSS NH Trainings:
• OSTB 7: Family, School, and Community Relationships: February 1st
• Afterschool Credential Information Session: February 7th
• SEML Community of Practice: February 8th
• OST Directors Circle- Choose Love: February 8th
• Beyond the Intro and Overview of the SACERS-U: February 8th
• OSTB 2: Learning Environment and Curriculum: February 13th
• Intro and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U: February 14th
• How to Earn a GSQ Step in OST: February 15th
• How to Register for an ACROSS NH Training in NHCIS

Do You Have a Favorite Children's Book with an SEL Connection?

Earn a Social and Emotional Learning-Connected Literature Kit for your OST program at no cost from ACROSS NH and help us to celebrate International #SELday on March 8, 2024. Follow the steps in the details below to see how you can send us your submission! Due date for your submission is March 1st! Questions? Email ACROSS NH SEL Coordinator, Abigail Blodgett Argentine, at ablodgett@acrossnh.org.

Those who contribute a submission will earn 3 Professional Activity (PA) units to use toward their Afterschool Credential application or renewal for "Participating in a statewide program that shares activities to help promotes SEL" !

Save the date! ACROSS NH and the NH Afterschool Network are currently collaborating to bring you the 2024 NH Out of School Time Convention: Inspire, Lead, Thrive! Annual Celebration & Conference!

Mark your calendar! We hope you plan to attend the 2024 convention of celebration, training, networking, giveaways, vendors, breakfast, lunch, and raffle prizes. The location will be announced soon! We will be celebrating the 2023-2024 Afterschool Credential recipients, and also those who are Making a Difference in OST. Look for the announcement here in your weekly ACROSS Your Desk newsletter.

It's going to be an amazing day for the NH OST community- we hope you will join us!

Social, Emotional, and Mindfulness Learning in Out of School Time:

A Hybrid Training Series

Why Social, Emotional, 'and' Mindful Learning?

Thursday, March 7, 6:30-8:30 pm on Zoom

Mindful Self-Awareness and Emotional Regulation

Thursday, March 21, 6:30-8:30 pm on Zoom

Mindful Social Awareness and Heartful Connecting

Thursday, April 4, 6:30-8:30 pm on Zoom

Social, Emotional, and Mindfulness Learning (SEML): Putting it into Practice

Saturday, April 6

In Person at the ACROSS NH Spring Conference (Location TBD)

Participants who complete all 4 sessions will receive a FREE SEML Materials Kit to implement into their program to celebrate and recognize their full participation in the training series! 

Registration is required in NHCIS for the first three individual trainings. The last session will be during the ACROSS NH Planning Your Summer Conference and will require a small fee to attend the conference. (Registration and information for the ACROSS NH Planning Your Summer Conference will be announced in February.)

Click here or on the flyer image to download the complete details!

Save your spots now and register for the sessions you choose in NHCIS!

NH Early Childhood Leadership Summit:

Reimagining Self-Care Series (and OST, too!)

Thursday, February 1st 12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

Thursday, February 22nd 12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

Thursday, March 7th 12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

Register just once and embark on a journey that will bring you three life-changing experiences!

Click here for the complete flyer!

It's important to take the time to do things that help you live well and improve your physical and mental health. But how many times do you put yourself last because you're too busy helping others or finishing your tasks? Engage in this 3-part workshop series to help your team build skills to break through barriers to take care of their mental well-being and empower them to live a happy, healthy, and productive life.

This message is shared on behalf of our collaborating partner, Child Care Aware of New Hampshire.

Mindfulness Schools Shares:

Mindful Mondays

Dear SEML in OST Colleagues, 

Jelena Popovic, of the Mindful Schools Faculty, shares a Mindful Monday message weekly. You can sign up to receive a Mindful Monday message here. Take a look...

I hope you enjoy exploring more resources from Mindful Schools and implement them into your daily practice for yourself and the children and youth in your program! Go to https://www.mindfulschools.org/ today!

May you be well, 

May you have joy, 

May you have peace, 

Abigail J. Blodgett Argentine, B.S.; NH ASMP

ACROSS NH Social Emotional Learning Coordinator 

ablodgett@acrossnh.org

Tuition Assistance for OST Professionals

The Community College System of NH offers Granite Steps for Quality Tuition Assistance (GSQ) provides tuition awards for ECE courses for students working as preschool teachers, out-of-school-time (OST) workers, or elementary school paraprofessionals. Click here or on the flyer below for more details!

The UNH College of Professional Studies is pleased to offer eligible student applicants tuition assistance toward two courses per term. This effort is funded by the NH Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration through Early Childhood Tuition Assistance (ECTA) and Preschool Development Grants (PDG). Click here or on the flyer below for more details!

BKC: Better Kid Care

Better Kid Care (BKC) is organized by Penn State Extension and has tons of resources, activities, and tips for care givers and providers! Here is an example...

Children and their teachers might enjoy making bird feeders and observing birds! Read the article for instructions to create two bird feeders, a list of related books, and tips for setting up a bird watching station. Learn more about Better Kid Care here!

Support for Care Givers from Be Well Care Well

On behalf of the DHHS, we are excited to share with you all a new opportunity for early learning programs and providers to participate in a brand-new initiative being funded by the state called Be Well Care Well. Be Well Care Well is an early educator wellness initiative being piloted across the state, and we are looking for interested programs to participate! Program participation occurs over a 12-month period, and services will be coordinated with existing coach services a program receives.

Apply for support to be better equipped to handle the challenges of your daily work- out of school time (OST) included! To apply click here to provide your contact information for this offer!

OSTB 7: Family, School, and Community Relationships

Thursday, February 1st

6:30-8:30pm on Zoom

ACROSS NH is proud to provide free virtual and interactive Out of School Time Basics trainings on the National Afterschool Association (NAA) Ten Core Knowledge, Skills & Competencies. These trainings are provided at no cost to you thanks to funding from the NH DHHS and Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration. Click here for the 2023-2024 flyer of ACROSS NH OSTB trainings.

The family is central to the development of children and youth. This virtual training will explore the importance of developing and maintaining open, friendly, cooperative, and respectful relationships with families. We will also identify ways to support the relationship between children and their families that will enhance the quality of the program and the community.

Afterschool Credential Information Session

Wednesday, February 7th

12-1pm on Zoom

Are you thinking about applying for your afterschool credential? Is it time for you to renew? Are you thinking about joining the ACROSS NH Credential Challenge? Come join this virtual information session and have all of your questions answered. We will review the steps and documents needed for you to apply for your afterschool credential. Your education, experience, skills, and talents will be recognized through this system and your credential is good for 3 years! Click here to learn about the ACROSS NH Afterschool Credential Challenge 2023-2024.

There are no fees to apply for a credential right now... what are you waiting for?

Social Emotional and Mindful Learning

Community of Practice

Thursday, February 8th

10:15-11:30am on Zoom

At the heart of the OST field are the values of building positive relationships, creating quality learning opportunities, and making contributions to lifelong thriving outcomes for our children and youth. 

This SEML Community of Practice is for out of school time staff, site directors, and directors. We will focus on the guiding principles of social, emotional, and mindfulness learning in OST programs, share resources, practices, and collaborate with like-minded colleagues. Participants will walk away with a refocused lens on implementing SEL in OST.

This session is provided by Abigail Blodgett, B.S., SEL Coordinator; NH ASMP WT, PM, ADS Level 6 and ASA Level 3, and Rick Alleva, Ed.D.; ACROSS NH Master Trainer, NH ASMP WT, F, AP. Registration in NHCIS is required to attend.

Choose Love:

Make Choosing Love Part of Your Day

Thursday, February 8th

10:30-11:30am on Zoom

Join us to meet Dee Dee Thurber, Child Care Aware of NH Director and Choose Love Ambassador, and learn how Choosing Love for yourself connects to sharing the Choose Love program with the children, families, and other groups you work with. Activities, books, and Choose Love resources will be shared to help you begin your Choose Love journey. 

Register for this session in the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS). You will receive 1 hour of PD in your NHCIS training transcript. Join Jamie Nadeau, ACROSS NH Director, and Dee Dee Thurber for this special Directors Circle!

Monthly virtual Directors Circles are the opportunity for out of school time (OST) directors to share successes, challenges, network with like-minded colleagues in the field, ask questions, to build knowledge in a specific topic, or just come to listen. 

Beyond the Introduction and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U

Thursday, February 8th

12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

Pre-requisite: Intro & Overview of ERS and SACERS-U training. This session is designed to give out of school time staff the opportunity to take a deeper dive into the scoring, the subscales and the indicators of the SACERS-U tool. It is also an opportunity to share questions about using the tool. Tips and strategies on program improvements to improve scores will also be shared.

This training is provided by Cathy Hazelton, M.Ed.; NH ASMP WT, PC, IM, NH ADS 3 & LE 3 and SACERS-U Anchor. Bring your SACERS-U tool to the training along with with all of your SACERS questions!

OSTB 2: Learning Environments and Curriculum

Tuesday, February 13th

6:30-8:30pm on Zoom

ACROSS NH is proud to provide free virtual and interactive Out of School Time Basics trainings on the National Afterschool Association (NAA) Ten Core Knowledge, Skills & Competencies. These trainings are provided at no cost to you thanks to funding from the NH DHHS and Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration.

Environments and curriculum are the foundation of your afterschool program! In this virtual interactive workshop, you will learn how to create engaging environments and prepare curriculum that provide fun and enriching activities. The session will also explore how children and youth learn through activities and play. You will leave knowing how to design and implement learning opportunities that include goals and objectives.

Introduction and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U

Wednesday, February 14th

12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

The Environment Rating Scales (ERS) are observational tools that assess process quality of child care programs. This virtual training provides an introduction and overview of the ERS and the School Age Care Environment Rating Scale-Updated (SACERS-U) tool. We will examine the benefits of using the tool for children and for programs. Participants will practice how to use the SACERS-U tool in an out-of-school time (OST) program. This training is intended for programs with school age children in OST. This training fulfills the required Granite Steps for Quality (GSQ) ERS Training for the SACERS Learning Environment Standard Rubric.

This training is provided by Cathy Hazelton, M.Ed.; NH ASMP WT, PC, IM, NH ADS 3 & LE 3 and SACERS-U Anchor. ACROSS NH can provide a copy of the SACERS-U tool to your program by request once you have completed the training. Please email your request to chazelton@acrossnh.org.

How to Earn a GSQ Step in OST

Thursday, February 15th

12:00-1:00pm on Zoom

This training is for out of school time (OST) programs, and early childhood programs with an OST component that are planning to apply for a Granite Step for Quality (GSQ). We will review the details of the GSQ OST Rubrics. We will cover the pre-requisites needed, and the the staff requirements & the learning environment requirements needed for applying for a step. Participants will also acquire resources from ACROSS NH to support their work including a self-paced checklist to help you get organized!

This training is provided by Cathy Hazelton, M.Ed.; NH ASMP WT, PC, IM, NH ADS 3 & LE 3 and SACERS-U Anchor. ACROSS NH can provide a copy of the SACERS-U tool to your program by request once you have completed the training. Please email your request to chazelton@acrossnh.org.

How to Register for an ACROSS NH Training in NHCIS

Log into NHCIS. Go to your "training tile" and click on "take a training." Scroll down and click on "Month" view. Advance to the date of the training that you want to register for and click on the "training title." If you are having trouble registering for an ACROSS NH training in NHCIS, please email Cathy Hazelton at chazelton@acrossnh.org.

For more information about NHCIS,

go to https://www.nh-connections.org/providers/nh-professional-registry/.