Newsletters

Happy New Year! A new year, a fresh start, and infinite possibilities! The CAN Team is looking forward to the next year and all of the awesome work, we, educators and practitioners in Expanded Learning / Out-of-School-Time will do together. As we jump into the second half of the school year and continue supporting children and youth in our communities, it is important we care for ourselves. 

Greetings CAN Community, and Happy Holidays! 

As we close this year, we want to take a moment and reflect. Making intentional time to reflect is not only helpful with Continuous Quality Improvement for programs, but it also allows an opportunity for self-reflection to identify areas to celebrate, areas to grow, and new possibilities. Every year brings its own unique set of victories and defeats, struggles and joys. Whatever season of life you’re in at the moment, it’s important to reflect on how the year went so you can adjust your sails. Below is a list of reflective questions for educators, children, and youth to consider.

November is a busy month full of celebration. It is National Native American Heritage month and November 8th was National STEM Day. As a partner of Million Girls Moonshot, the California AfterSchool Network is helping close the gap to make STEAM learning more equitable and accessible to marginalized and all youth. All month long we honor the contributions of Indigenous peoples past and present to STEM.

October is National Farm to School Month! This month is dedicated to celebrate food education, schools gardens, and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients. 

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and focuses on raising awareness of bullying. During this month, many groups across the country will release new resources, campaigns, and efforts aimed at bringing awareness to the issue of bullying. As CA Expanded Learning and Out-of-School-Time programs work to transform schools and communities, we have the responsibility to educate ourselves and our teams about anti-bullying prevention and intervention.

It is Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15)! Representation is crucial to helping students feel like they belong. To help students see themselves with a future in STEM and to broaden their understanding of science history, Million Girls Moonshot has compiled a multitude of resources that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Welcome to this month’s Health & Wellness Newsletter! The start of a new school year is a busy time for families, students and teachers. Parents are focused on gathering all of the essentials their kids will need for the first time at school or entering a new grade, teachers are busy preparing their classrooms for in-person instruction, and kids are excited to see their friends again! For all, it’s an important time to rejoin the activities that enrich their lives.

Hello and welcome to the CAN Newsletter! For those who are new to the CAN Community, we would like to take an opportunity to introduce ourselves. The California AfterSchool Network’s mission is to provide the resources and support needed by the OST field and its partners across sectors to build high quality OST programs that improve the lives of California’s most vulnerable children, youth, families, and communities. CAN is “of the field and for the field,” is a catalyst of quality, a vehicle for advocacy, and a conduit for communications.

Happy Summer! For young people, summer can be full of outdoor play, camp experiences, trips, and vacations. However, for some youth and their families, especially those in underserved or under-resourced areas, summer might not include opportunities for those camp-like experiences or vacations.