StayConnected Curriculum Webinar Series

April 21, 2022 – Oceans of Possibilities, 4-H Reading Connections

Children are naturally curious about nature and science.  Discover how you can foster an appreciation of STEM, 4-H, the oceans, and water conservation through engaging activities for early childhood and school-aged children.  These resources are perfect for youth development and early childhood professionals, libraries, afterschool clubs, summer camps, and parents.

Jackie Steffen, Early Childhood Nebraska Extension Educator
Jennifer Hansen, 4-H Youth Development Nebraska Extension Educator

December 16, 2021 – Bring STEMentors into your Afterschool Program

STEMentrors from UNL can bring new experiences in coding and robotics into your program. University students will be help students learn more about computer science through these hands-on programs. This year the team is working to make it an even better experience by offer more support and kits to help you implement the program. Learn what’s new in 2022.

Saundra Frerichs, Science Education Specialist Nebraska 4-H Youth Development, sfrerichs3@unl.edu
Tracy Pracheil, Extension Educator Nebraska 4-H Youth Development

December 2, 2021 – What’s new from Beyond School Bells

Be sure to join Sandy Day, Content and Delivery Director for Beyond School Bells and the 21st CCLC Team as we explore three curriculum rich websites. Sandy will demonstrate content from the BSB website, https://beyondschoolbells.org/curriculum/, and Mizzen by Mott, https://www.mizzen.org/. These standards aligned lessons and activities are free to you to use in your out of school programs.

Mizzen by Mott
With activities from premier organizations like Jazz at Lincoln Center and powerful management tools, this new app can help you strengthen your afterschool program. Mizzen by Mott inspires, engages and sparks learning in young people. Supported by the Mott Foundation, Mizzen is available at no cost to afterschool professionals!

www.mizzen.org

Sandy Day, Beyond School Bells

June 17, 2021 – The Million Girl Moonshot in Nebraska

The Million Girls Moonshot is a national movement that seeks to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls and underserved youth in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs over the next 5 years. Learn what Nebraska is doing to help achieve this goal.

Anna Wishart, Beyond School Bells
Michelle Clark, Union Pacific Railroad
Miki Montgomery, The Malone Community Center

May 20, 2021 – Nebraska 4-H STEM Reading Connections – Tails & Tales Resources (video)

The Nebraska 4-H STEM Reading Connections Program (web page)

These adaptable and engaging resources are just the thing to “connect” 4-H & STEM to libraries, books, education, or any other area that needs a bridge. The 2021 Nebraska 4-H STEM Reading Connections Resources are a collection of Storybook Imagination Guides, Clover Kid & 4-H Workshops, and four lessons plans all tied together in a neat little package of the Collaborative Library Summer Program theme “Tails & Tales.” The inclusive resources are an opportunity to bring 4-H to youth through new and old partnerships. Youth have the opportunity to “connect” their experiences from books and the world around them to practical application through the interdisciplinary STEM approach, with the addition of “[A]rt” as a means to visually communicate their experience. With a wide variety of lesson topics (service animals, animal adaptations, financial literacy, farm animals, wildlife, and animal habitats) every youth and facilitator can find some “connection.”

Jennifer Hansen, Nebraska Extension, 4-H & Youth Development Extension Educator
Jackie Steffen, Nebraska Extension, Learning Child Educator

April 1, 2021 – Planning Summer Units and Lessons

Saundra Frerichs, Nebraska 4-H, sfrerichs3@unl.edu

This StayConnected experience will focus on resources to help plan for summer.  I’ll share an afterschool lesson template and afterschool unit template designed especially for Nebraska; and my favorite sources for high-quality, free STEM curricula.  We will discuss the differences between planning units and planning lessons.

• Afterschool Planning Template
• Afterschool Unit Planning
• STEM Curriculum Resources for Afterschool Programs

March 18, 2021 –E-Afterschool: Utilizing Out-of-School-Time Experiences to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Youth

Kelly Biggar, Afterschool Program Manager, Young Entrepreneur Institute
Anna Wishart, Director of Partnerships, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
Breann Hines, COO Young Entrepreneurs of the Future

Join Beyond School Bells, the Youth Entrepreneurship Institute, and Young Entrepreneurs of the Future to learn about the E-Afterschool opportunities available this year to the youth you serve. From statewide pitch challenges, to youth marketplaces, to entrepreneurship clubs, there are many opportunities to engage youth in building their entrepreneurial mindset.

March 4, 2021 –Preventing the Summer Slide

Dr. Abby Burke, Reading Specialist, Nebraska Department of Education
Nancy Armstrong, Afterschool Project Director, Ogallala, NE
Holly Myers, Afterschool Project Director, Loup City, NE

Summer slide is a decline in reading ability and other academic skills that can occur over the summer months when school isn’t in session.  Learn ways to enhance literacy skills during one-on-one or small-group time. Explore options for embedding literacy development at home as well as throughout a summer program.
Preventing the Summer Slide handout

February 18, 2021: Summer Planning: Easier

Sandy Day, Beyond School Bells
Saundra Frerichs, Nebraska 4-H, sfrerichs3@unl.edu

Sandy Day, Beyond School Bells, will lead a discussion regarding the importance of summer learning and new opportunities for funding to support efforts to make 2021 a Summer of Innovation. In addition, Saundra Frerichs, Nebraska Extension, will share resources to assist in your summer planning offering models and available hands-on curriculum.

February 4, 2021: Summer Fun and Learning

Heather Bebout, Project Director, Schuyler Afterschool and Summer Program
Deb Sawyer, Project Director, O’Neill Afterschool and Summer Program

Join this week’s StayConnected webinar to hear from two 21^st CCLC Project Directors about their summer program plans. Heather Bebout, Schuyler Project Director, and Deb Sawyer, O’Neill Project Director will discuss their summer program schedules, staffing, their community partners, and also share some resources others might find helpful. There will be time to ask these experienced program leaders questions and share participants’ experiences.
Summer Programming in Schuyler

June 25, 2020 –  Beyond School Bell’s Free Summer Activities and Challenges
Jeff Cole, Beyond School Bells

Tune in to hear how you can use these new national materials and BSB created challenges to supercharge your summer learning programs.
Free Summer Activities

May 28, 2020 – NASA-Based STEM Activities
Terresa Greenleaf, Walthill Public Schools and NASA Nebraska Space Ambassador

STEM based activities that can be done at home or can be used in the classroom, after school program, and summer science camp will be shown. Terresa will also discuss how she uses NASA based activities in a science camp setting.
T Greenleaf’s Webpage and Contact Information

May 21, 2020 – Investing in your Future
Becky Barnard, UNL, Nebraska Council on Economic Education

Personal finance is important for success in life, this session will introduce basic financial concepts; saving, spending and investing to support students as they solve practical problems and issues they will encounter throughout their lifetimes. This session will provide age appropriate lesson outlines and sample activities that center educators can prepare and present to their students.
PowerPoint – Investing in your Future

FRIDAY, May 8, 2020 – Introduction to Mizzen, C.S. Mott Foundation
Join BSB Network Lead Jeff Cole and Sandy Day as they walk us through Mizzen and how it can be used to enrich out of school time programs across Nebraska.

Developed by the C.S. Mott Foundation, a long-time partner of Beyond School Bells, Mizzen is a state of the art app designed to meet the needs of afterschool and summer providers – as well as parents and other caregivers who are now playing this role in households across Nebraska during these challenging times.  Mizzen combines over a thousand units of free content developed specifically for afterschool, summer or home learning environments, options for back office support, scheduling and as well as professional development tips that come to you just as you need them. Through support from the Mott Foundation, the app and all of its content are available for free.

Mizzen by Mott

April 30, 2020 – A Digital Repository: Nebraska Honors Afterschool Clubs
Emily Sutherland, UNL Honors Program Coordinator
Shannon Mangram, UNL Honors Program, shannon.mangram@unl.edu

Students in the Honors Program at UNL have been creating curriculum and leading afterschool clubs in Lincoln Community Learning Centers for the past 2 years. This opportunity allows Honors students to share their passions with others in a unique way, while also filling a need in the community. Honors Afterschool Club curriculum is uploaded at the end of each semester and available to download worldwide through the Honors Club Repository.  Come explore the repository and learn about all this resource has to offer. (Honors Afterschool Club Repository)

April 9, 2020 – Toolbox – a new tool to build new and support existing ELO programs in Nebraska
Jeff Cole, Beyond School Bells

In this presentation, Beyond School Bells staff will provide an overview to Toolbox, a new website designed to support the development of new, and enhance existing, Expanded Learning Opportunity programs.  Developed as part of the NDE-funded ELO Design Challenge, this tool was designed to complement existing resources and will be a platform for sharing information that can help all of Nebraska’s ELO advocates.