Experiences, environments and engagement are at the core of positive youth development. Afterschool professionals with competency in these areas run the quality programs that research shows benefit youth. Leaders and their teams should join NAA’s 2018 Virtual Convention featuring experts from the NAA Community (including top rated workshop presenters from the in-person convention) to become inspired, connected, and equipped to provide valuable opportunities for young people.
All workshops target NAA Core Knowledge and Competencies Content Areas 1-6, Levels 1 - 3.
Training certificates are awarded for eight hours of participation in the Virtual Convention which included the following content. Participation includes interaction with presentation + videos, hands-on activities, reflection, planning, and sharing.
Safe Havens – Integrating Trauma-Informed Care
Kirk Lowis, Portage Community Center
Research suggests that nearly 60 percent of youth in the U.S. are exposed to a traumatic event each year.Join us as we learn ways to engage young people by creating safe and supportive environments with the goal of helping youth thrive in the face of adversity.
How to Meaningfully Address Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Jimena Quiroga Hopkins, Development Without Limits
For programs to truly serve the needs of all young people, it is important to address equity, diversity, and inclusion intentionally and in a meaningful way. In this workshop, we will delve deeper into what it takes to address the three spheres of change when it comes to doing equity, diversity, and inclusion work – people, policies, and practices. You’ll gain strategies and tools for moving this work forward in your organizations and programs.
Afterschool Tech Toolkit
Jennifer Brady, Development Without Limits
Afterschool programs have long been known as a solution to support students and families through positive relationships with adults and peers. With the right professional development, afterschool professionals can help students actively navigate technology to create deep learning experiences and develop digital citizenship and responsibility in a safe, facilitated setting. Afterschool professionals are skilled at using a wide range of tools to build relationships, set high expectations and ensure youth experience all kinds of age-appropriate opportunities – with the Afterschool Tech Toolkit you’ll be able to confidently use technology to help students thrive.
Reframing Behavior Management
Katherine Gopie and Jennifer Jones, Prime Time Palm Beach County
Do you struggle with managing challenging behaviors of the youth in your program? Would you like to learn a way to facilitate youths’ self-management skills when they misbehave? This training shows you how to approach all youth behavior as opportunities to learn responsibility, emotion management, and problem-solving skills. Walk away with practical strategies you can use immediately!
Bringing Social and Emotional Learning to Life through Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
Daniel Hatcher, Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Interested in increasing the quality of physical activity for youth through inclusive program activities that encourage relationship building? Looking for fun family engagement activities that combine cooperation and compassion with nutrition education? Join this interactive workshop and you’ll leave with simple (and budget-friendly) resources for family engagement and program activities with these goals in mind. Quality afterschool is healthy afterschool!
Giving Youth More Voice and Choice
Perrin Chick, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance
Join us to learn essential STEM facilitation skills. Reflect on your practice and learn ways to increase the youth voice within your program. The more students have the opportunity to talk through STEM challenges within afterschool programs and take on leadership roles, the more inclined they will be to pursue STEM careers and act as agents of change within communities. Participants will also learn how virtual professional learning communities and peer coaching can increase camaraderie and improve practice.
Helping Youth Develop Coping Skills
Heather Wojciuch, Kids Included Together (KIT)
Have you ever wondered why some youth seem to bounce back from stress easier than others? Youth learn to bounce back or cope at varying levels, and through social-emotional experiences. Youth face many social demands during their school day and during out-of-school time such as following a routine, responding to social cues, communicating with others, and making appropriate choices. Many times, youth do not have the skills necessary to handle these stressors and require adult assistance to find a solution. Participants will learn new tools and strategies to teach youth how to cope and become more resilient during stressful times. As a result, youth are better able to self-regulate, become self-aware, build relationships skills, and make better decisions.
Social Emotional and Mindful Learning in Afterschool
Jaime Garcia, Extend-a-Care for Kids
How much time do you spend helping young people understand their emotions, recognizing a friend’s perspective, resolving conflict in a positive way, and helping them make safe choices? Discover the why and how of bringing social emotional learning (SEL) to your program. Create peace paths, cool down areas, and embrace group meeting times to give kids a better chance of understanding themselves and building relationships with others.
Erika Petrelli
Senior Vice President of Leadership Development, The Leadership Program
Erika Petrelli is the senior vice president of leadership development (and self-declared minister of mischief) for The Leadership Program, an organization dedicated to helping individuals discover, and step into, their own brand of leadership to positively change their lives and communities. At The Leadership Program, Erika oversees the support the development of over 200 employees, the creation of new and evolving content and curriculum, and the implementation of services throughout the country.
With a Master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University, Erika has been in the field of teaching and training for more than 15 years and nurtures the individual leadership spirit in students and adults across the country, through trainings, coaching, and writing. She blogs weekly, and is the author of the interactive journal On Wings & Whimsy: Thoughts on Finding the Extraordinary Within the Ordinary.
Byron Garrett
Chairman, National Family Engagement Alliance
Byron Garett is chairman of the National Family Engagement Alliance (NFEA), a non-profit dedicated to transforming education through meaningful family engagement. He also serves as the director for educational leadership and policy at Microsoft, and is a consulting author for Scholastic. Throughout his career, Byron has been a visionary agent of change promoting the idea that everyone has an obligation and opportunity to serve the best interests of our nation’s most precious resource – children. Byron is a Huffington Post blogger and lead strategist NBC News’ Education Nation. As the former CEO of the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Byron has a unique combination of experience from both the non-profit and governmental sectors. He served as National Program Leader for the National 4-H Headquarters at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the program’s seven million participants and 90,000 clubs. While at USDA he was appointed by The White House as co-convener of the Helping America’s Youth initiative, an interagency effort to address challenges facing youth and to promote successful solutions. Byron is the author of The ABC’s of Life, a guide for adolescents and adults alike to take ownership of their lives and work toward excellence and success, even when life’s inevitable obstacles arise, and Greatness on the Inside, a children’s book that counteracts the limiting messages projected at children by today's media-driven world in this beautifully illustrated, uplifting book for children of all ages.
Gina Warner
President & CEO, National AfterSchool Association
Gina Warner is president and CEO of the National AfterSchool Alliance. Gina began her afterschool career as a teen in 4-H programs in rural Alabama, and has continued to work at the intersection of education, youth development, public policy, and nonpro t leadership throughout her career. She relies on her experience as a classroom teacher, an attorney, a U.S. Senate staffer, and a citywide out-of-school time leader to guide her work. As the leader of NAA, Gina works to meet the needs of both emerging and experienced afterschool professionals through enhanced training and development, increased communication, outreach, and membership engagement.
