In This Week's ACROSS Your Desk:

• Storage Solutions for OST: Funding Available- First Come First Served!
• ACROSS NH Business Virtual Training Series
• SEL Corner by Abigail Blodgett Argentine
• More Upcoming ACROSS NH Trainings
• SEML Community of Practice: April 18th
• OSTB 4: Relationships and Interactions with Children & Youth: April 18th
• Business Series: Recruiting and Retaining Staff: May 3&10
• SEML Community of Practice: May 7th
• OSTB 10: Professional Dev and Leadership: May 9th
• Directors Circle: What's New in NHCIS with Terri Peck: May 16th
• Business Series: Reports and Budgeting: May 17&24
• Beyond the Intro and Overview of ERS and SACERS: May 21st
• OSTB 5: Youth Engagement, Voice, and Choice: May 23rd
• Intro and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U: May 29th
• How to Register for an ACROSS NH Training in NHCIS



Smart Storage Solutions for OST: Lunch and Information Sessions

12:00 - 1:00pm on Zoom

Friday, April 19

Wednesday, April 24

Thursday, April 25

Meet with Sunni Tainter, ACROSS NH Support and Outreach Coordinator, for a session to learn more about how ACROSS NH can revolutionize your OST storage needs. Funding is available to purchase items for programs that attend a session, based on program size. In this consultation, Sunni will showcase tailored solutions from Lakeshore Learning® designed to optimize your storage space, streamline organizational processes, and enhance participant experiences within your OST program.

Sunni will work with you to maximize efficiency and enhance your OST storage setup. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the possibilities and find the perfect fit for your OST storage solutions. First come, first served!

Register in NHCIS for the session you wish to attend. If you have questions, please email Cathy Hazelton at chazelton@acrossnh.org. Click here or on the image to download the flyer.

Strengthening Your Business Practices Virtual Training Series

Module Two: Recruiting and Retaining Staff (Part 1 & 2)

Friday, May 3 & Friday, May 10 at 9:30-10:45am on Zoom

Module Three: Financial Reports and Successful Budgeting (Part 1 & 2)

Friday, May 17 & Friday, May 24 at 9:30-10:45am on Zoom

Technical assistance (TA) is available to all participants to assist in applying the curriculum to your individual program. When participants complete a module they will receive a gift to boost their new business skills!

It’s all about the children! Working with children is your passion but running a business may not be. Consider this: sound fiscal practices mean stronger programs and better outcomes for children. In this collection of trainings, we will cover recruitment, retention of staff, marketing, budgets, and financial reports.

Join Natalie D'Angelo for these virtual trainings. Click here for the complete flyer with training details.

Register in NHCIS for the modules you wish to attend. If you have questions, please email Cathy Hazelton at chazelton@acrossnh.org.

Mindful Writing Activity

Dear SEL in OST Community, 

At the OST Convention, Christine Marie of New Morning Schools in Bedford, NH, attended the "Social, Emotional, and Mindful Learning" training led by ACROSS NH trainers Rick Alleva, and Abigail Blodgett Argentine. One activity involved trying your hand at writing a Gatha or mindful poem. Christine Marie wrote a pair of beautiful poems, both called "One Drop," and she agreed to share them with our greater community. 

Remember, thoughts can influence the way one may feel emotionally and/or physically. When engaged in a mindful practice, like mindful poetry reading or writing, our minds have the opportunity to think on the words we've put on paper or are reading. Consider having your staff or students write a poem about peace, or calm, or about an activity where they're present in their senses - maybe mindful eating? Have them reflect on how they experienced reading and writing mindfully. 

Warmly, 

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

ACROSS NH Social Emotional Learning Coordinator 

ablodgett@acrossnh.org

Social Emotional and Mindful Learning

Community of Practice

Thursday, April 18th

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.

OSTB 4: Relationships and Interactions with Children & Youth

Thursday, April 18th

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.

Quality relationships and communication are key attributes of quality practice when working with children and youth. These enhance our ability to form the connections necessary to provide positive guidance to those who attend our programs. This virtual training looks at these two components and at our role as youth development professionals in positive behavior guidance.

Social Emotional and Mindful Learning

Community of Practice

Tuesday, May 7th

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.

OSTB 10: Professional Development and Leadership

Thursday, May 9th

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.

Understanding the commitment to upholding ethical practices, having an informed work philosophy, valuing ongoing professional growth and development, and recognizing the importance of leadership in youth serving spaces is foundational to implementing quality programming. In this basic training, we identify skills and competencies that can guide positive youth development professionals working in OST programs toward understanding the importance that their own professional development and leadership has in their programs and to the profession. 

What's New in NHCIS?

Thursday, May 16th

9:30-10:30am on Zoom

Terri Peck, DHHS and Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration Business Analyst, joins Jamie Nadeau this month to share the latest updates and development of the NH Connections Information System (NHCIS). Don't miss this special opportunity to see what's new and helpful for providers in NHCIS!

Beyond the Intro and Overview of the ERS and SACERS-U

Tuesday, May 21st

12:00-1:30pm on Zoom

Pre-requisite: Participants need to have completed the "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. Tips and strategies on program improvements to improve scores will also be shared. Bring your questions! 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/book!

OSTB 5: Youth Engagement, Voice, and Choice

Thursday, May 23rd

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.

This virtual training will explore some of the components for building partnerships with youth in afterschool and school age settings. Fostering child and youth leadership and voice will be addressed as key components that support children and youth at being active participants in the program.

Introduction and Overview of ERS and SACERS-U

Wednesday, May 29th

12-1:30pm 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 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/.