In This Week's ACROSS Your Desk:

• Earn a FREE SEL Literature Kit for Your OST Program and Celebrate #SELday
• SEL Corner: SEL-Connected Children's Literature Book List Resource
• Save the Date- April 6th: 2024 NH OST Convention: Inspire, Lead, Thrive- Annual Celebration & Conference
• Upcoming ACROSS NH Trainings:
• ACROSS NH Mindful March Training Series: 4 Trainings!
• OSTB 8: Health and Safety: March 6th
• SEML Community of Practice: March 13th
• How to Earn a GSQ Step in OST: March14th
• Intro and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U: March 20th
• OSTB 3: Child and Youth Observation & Assessment: March 20th
• Directors Circle with Amy Upton: March 21st
• How to Register for an ACROSS NH Training in NHCIS

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

Earn a huge 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" !

SEL-Connected Children's Book Lists for You

Dear Social, Emotional, and Mindfulness in OST Community, 

Deborah Dutcher, the Children's Library Coordinator at our NH State Library, shared a website she created/hosts with lots of resources including some that may assist you with your SEL Book Review efforts for SEL Day! This website contains links to lists of SEL - Connected children's book lists! This is a TREMENDOUS resource for us! 

Visit the "Outstanding Librarian" here: https://www.outstandinglibrarian.org/bibliotherapy.html

Do not miss the opportunity to explore this resource. Choose a book and please send me your submissions to celebrate #SELday! You could be featured in the ACROSS NH social media!

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

Registration Opening Soon!

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, trainings, networking, giveaways, vendors, breakfast, lunch, and raffle prizes. Registration is opening soon! We will be celebrating the 2023-2024 Afterschool Credential recipients, OST Programs that earned a Granite Step for Quality, Champions in OST, 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

SEML: Putting it into Practice

Saturday, April 6

(In Person at the ACROSS NH Spring Conference at Waterville Valley Resort)

Join us for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 sessions!

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!

OSTB 8: Safety and Wellness

Wednesday, March 6th

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.

Social Emotional and Mindful Learning

Community of Practice

Wednesday, March 13th

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.

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for (audience)? Why should they care (benefit)? What do I want them to do (call-to-action)?

Create a great offer by adding words like "free," "personalized," "complimentary," or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take action, so consider inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"

How to Earn a GSQ Step in OST

Thursday, March 14th

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!

Introduction and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U

Wednesday, March 20th

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.

OSTB 3: Child and Youth Observation & Assessment

Wednesday, March 20th

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.

Effective out of school time programs depend upon the observation skills of the staff. We learn best about children when we have had the opportunity to observe them in their daily routines. But how do we observe children when our afterschool schedules are so busy? Join us in this engaging workshop to learn more about observation in an afterschool program.

How to Keep Staff on Board

Thursday, March 21st

10:30-11:30am on Zoom

Join Amy Upton and Jamie Nadeau for this special Directors Circle! Do staff know the vision and mission of your program and the role they play? Learn tips and strategies to motivate staff and make them feel like a vital part of your program. Monthly virtual Directors Circles are an opportunity for out of school time (OST) directors to share their successes, challenges, network with like-minded colleagues in the field, ask questions, to build your knowledge in a specific topic, or just come to listen!

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/.