The conference is designed for K-12 educators on the front lines -- teachers, superintendents, counselors, district and state administrators, and especially principals -- who have a large goals for creating student success.

NAA's Vice Chair and Treasurer, Gretchen Yeager, also Director of Quality and Accreditation for Champions, hosted an enthusiastic group of school day educators to share how high quality afterschool programs helps contribute to the school's goals of positive school community and student achievement. The session, part of the Emerging Issues (Game Changers in Education) track, was designed to help school day educators understand the impact of high quality afterschool programs, to identify the best practices and standards high quality afterschool programs and to learn about organizations, tools and resources available to support implementation of high quality afterschool programs.

"It was an honor to be invited to present at NAESP and share our afterschool expertise with school day educators and admistrators. Strong relationships between the afterschool program staff and the school day personnel contribute to program quality. These relationships are key to ensuring that the needs of the whole child are being met," said Heidi Ham, Vice President of Programs and Strategy for the National Afterschool Association. "We valued the opportunity to model this collaboration between school and afterschool at the national level and look forward to additional opportunities for our organizations to work together," said Ham.