June 2023

Iowa Afterschool Alliance News

Early bird registration is now open for our annual Impact Afterschool Conference! This year the conference will be held at the Holiday Inn and Suites Des Moines-Northwest in Des Moines on September 28 & 29, 2023. Early bird discount is available through August 4th.

As the planning process continues, more information about hotels, food, and breakout sessions will be released later this summer.

We can’t wait to see you all this fall! Click here to register today!

We are excited to announce the Call for Presenters for the Impact Afterschool Conference 2023! This conference is dedicated to fostering excellence in afterschool programs and bringing together passionate individuals who are committed to enriching the lives of young learners beyond the traditional school day. 

We invite educators, program directors, researchers, and professionals from all sectors to submit their proposals for presentations, workshops, and interactive sessions.

Proposal document can be found here.

Please email your proposal to Heidi Brown at hbrown@sppg.com no later than August 15, 2023. Multiple proposals from the same presenter are welcome. 

Special Opportunity - National Summer Learning Association’s (NSLA) DiscoverSummer.org offers a nation-wide summer learning registry to help families of all socioeconomic backgrounds find local summer programs for their kids. Powered by InPlay, program providers across the country are invited to add their program details to the DiscoverSummer.org database.

Submit your program details here. 

STEM Opportunities

For more opportunities from Million Girls Moonshot,

please visit the STEM for Iowa website.

June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month - Association of Zoos and Aquariums provides a collection of links invluding Educator Resources. Many of the websites have educational resources such as videos, wildlife facts, lesson plans, and activities. Click here to learn more.

Celebrate summer with 26 free science and engineering lessons, projects, and activities for enriching hands-on STEM related to spring weather, flowers, plants, and more! Read more here.

Activity Toolkit: Engineering is Elementary's NASA Partnership free units - A suite of free NASA-funded STEM resources for students in grades 3-8. All resources are research-based and classroom-tested. They are designed to support students’ understanding of space, while helping them see themselves as capable problem solvers. Click here to access the toolkit.

Inclusion Spotlight

International Women in Engineering Day

Organized by Women's Engineering Society, the day (June 23, 2023) is an international awareness campaign to raise women's profile in engineering and focus attention on the career opportunities available to girls in engineering.

A health technologist, Nicole Jackson is a mobile and web enthusiast and health IT subject matter expert with almost a decade tackling problems for patients in healthcare. Whether it is algorithms and APIs, or mobile apps and IoT, Nicole’s career has been driven by her desire to create smarter patients with incredible software. From startups to corporate, Nicole is the Chief Technology Officer at Duet Health and her role touches every part of technology by creating and driving the strategy of what the technology will be in the future while creating solutions today. Nicole also acted as the Entrepreneur in Residence for Houston Community College, Northeast where she coaches students, staff, administrators, and educators in creative product development to solve problems unique to the community college student experience. Nicole is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Learning Technology from Drexel University and has a deep interest in learning sciences and machine learning. Nicole is equally located in Houston, TX and Columbus, Ohio, and is supported by her incredible wife, Jamalia Jackson, and has two teenagers. Learn more about Nicole here!

Wallace Foundation Resources

Millions of urban children and teens lack access to afterschool programs that provide rich opportunities for growth, learning and fun. One possible solution is to coordinate the work of programs, government agencies, private funders and others involved in afterschool programs—that is, build an afterschool system that is greater than the sum of its parts. Key components of afterschool systems include efforts to improve program quality and collection of data to inform decision-making.

​​Browse reports and other resources the Wallace Foundation provides for insights into making high-quality afterschool programming more readily available to urban young people.

Out of School Time Professional Development Center

The Out of School Time Professional Development Center provides Out of School Time training to OST professionals. The classes provide in-depth curriculum and certificates. If you or your staff are interested in signing up for courses visit the Out-of-School Time website. Check out the entire course catalog here. 

Great Content on Y4Y!

You 4 Youth is a free online professional development site that is designed to support 21CCLC program staff but is a valuable tool for any afterschool professional looking to build their skills! Recently, Y4Y has rolled out a whole module on literacy. Click here to register.

Iowa Child Care Training Registry

Find professional development for school-age programming on the State of Iowa Child Care Training Registry on topics ranging from health and safety to developmentally appropriate programming. Find out more online.

National Afterschool Association PD Resources

NAA provides afterschool professionals with resources to stay up-to-date on the latest topics in afterschool and summer learning. Find out more on their website here. 

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