National AfterSchool Association’s 2023 Convention is almost here, and we are thrilled to announce this year’s sessions! In addition to robust opportunities to network, there are over 100 more formal opportunities to learn, connect and be truly inspired by fellow out-of-school time professionals. This year, we’re focused on building a future for the afterschool profession that promotes equity and sustainability within the field, and the sessions for NAA23 reflect that momentum.
Young people want to be heard. They want adults to hear their stories, consider their ideas, and value them as partners in finding solutions for their communities’ issues. At the National AfterSchool Association, we are fortunate to have abundant opportunities to work with adults who listen with open, eager minds. Camp Fire Evaluation Manager and 2022 NextGen Leader alumni Hannah Howard is walking the walk of an afterschool leader by serving on the Amplify Youth Voice Advisory Committee for Every Hour Counts. As a part of her role, Hannah recently attended the Powered by Youth Voice in Chicago, where youth voices were centered on advancing new directions for the afterschool field.
January is National Mentorship Month! Mentorship allows people of all ages to learn from one another, providing a path to knowledge transfer for education, work, and more. Mentoring exposes young people to caring, involved role models, and while out-of-school-time professionals often serve in that role for the young people in their programs, the relationships built between mentors and mentees are important for both individuals and organizations.
Does the thought of meeting new people, public speaking, or introducing yourself in a room full of strangers give you cold sweats and heart palpitations? These standard, professional job obligations can be an anxiety trigger for many, but the art of performing comedy without a script could help ease your nerves. Improv can increase creativity, well-being, and our ability to tolerate uncertainty in a few simple ways.
NAA is teaming up with AT&T to offer you and your youth an amazing online learning resource named The Achievery.
It’s a new year ripe with different opportunities to further foster development, provide education, and encourage advocacy for the out-of-school-time community. At NAA, we have a few focal points to cover, and we want to hear from you about what you are most interested in learning and experiencing in 2023.
We have all seen it and felt it; the sense of wellbeing in adults is often closely tied to how we experience our workdays. Sources of job stress, job turnover, and job dissatisfaction among youth development professionals have been identified as things like work-life imbalances, overwhelming workloads, lack of training or professional development, and not being meaningfully recognized for the time and expertise they contribute. This new year is filled with opportunities – prioritizing how we demonstrate appreciation for out-of-school time workers will help us pursue each with better-connected employees.
The new year brings with it fresh opportunities to dream up and pursue both personal and professional goals. Before we charge full speed ahead, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the trials and triumphs we experienced in 2022. It has been a year with continued resilience and cautious optimism as in-person meetings, office hours, and events slowly made their way back into our lives. 365 days of reimagining and rebuilding in a post-pandemic nation together is cause for some celebration.
3…2…1… Happy New Year! 2023 offers each of us a blank slate. It comes with brand-new opportunities to get our thoughts organized and our things right through dedication kick-started by resolutions. Setting New Year’s resolutions is a form of self-efficacy; “by virtue of aspiring to a goal and following through on it, I have a sense of control over what's happening in my life.” With the crisis of the pandemic behind us, and new normals before us, this year comes in with a reminder to carve out time just for you. In fewer than three months, you can knock out your most critical resolutions by attending the National AfterSchool Association’s 2023 Convention!
It’s that time of year again; 43 states are preparing for their State Legislature or General Assembly to begin in January, while two have already started, and five gear up in February and March. Though each state has its policies to create, enact, or kill, some common themes emerge among proposed legislation for workers across the nation. Uplifting the out-of-school time (OST) profession has been an NAA focal point since day one. Now, equipped with a more robust advocacy strategy, NAA is poised to support a comprehensive overhaul of job quality in the field with our Thriving Workforce Initiative.
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