Last time in this series, I covered some of the different types of resources that are available through the Million Girls Moonshot initiative. But this time, I wanted to delve into some specific resources related to activities you can bring into programming. They’re not all from STEM Next and the Moonshot directly, but it was… Read more »
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Youth Voice Community of Practice: Supporting Youth and Each Other
The Youth Voice Community of Practice gathered again this month to discuss their work and how we can all do better in supporting youth voice. After a silly icebreaker that involved guessing chain restaurants from obscured pictures of their logos, we got into the real heart of the discussion. First up was Russell Bradbury-Carlin, who… Read more »
Youth Council for Youth Issues in Vermont

By Grace W., a member of Vermont Afterschool’s youth leadership council For the past few months I have been working with other youth from across Vermont to get a bill set up and hopefully passed in 2021. What is the bill for you may ask? Well, we believe that youth should have a voice in… Read more »
Getting Started with “Engineering Mindset” in Afterschool STEM Programs
As part of the Million Girls Moonshot, Vermont Afterschool is promoting the broad resources collected and produced by the STEM Next Opportunity Fund. The Million Girls Moonshot is a new initiative that aims to “inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and… Read more »
Vermont Afterschool Joins the Million Girls Moonshot Initiative
The STEM Next Opportunity Fund recently announced a multi-year grant to Vermont Afterschool as part of the Million Girls Moonshot. The Intel Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation have joined STEM Next Opportunity Fund and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to launch the Million Girls Moonshot. The effort is designed to engage one… Read more »
Vermont Afterschool to Partner on School-age Child Care Expansion
Vermont Afterschool, along with key partners at the Vermont Department for Children and Families and Let’s Grow Kids, will coordinate Governor Phil Scott’s recent directive to increase school-age child care this fall. Last week Governor Scott announced that the state would direct $12 million in federal coronavirus relief funding to increase the capacity of the… Read more »
“You’ve Got This”: Notes from the Social Emotional Roundtable Field Call
The weekly conversations between programs continued this week and focused on a reopening challenge that will impact virtually everyone on some level: maintaining awareness around our social and emotional health. There are some more general themes and then some specific resources that I’ll highlight here. The themes came from Sara Forward, LICSW of the Vermont… Read more »
Field Call Conversation on Staffing
On Tuesday, August 4th, a group of afterschool and other youth-serving professionals gathered to discuss the challenges that have been coming up related to reopening programs as they work on planning how to do so safely and effectively. The specified topic of the day was staffing, though the conversation ventured into other topics as well. … Read more »
Reopening Together: How Afterschool Can Partner with Schools
Afterschool programs are essential for meeting students’ needs during the COVID-19 crisis and throughout recovery. As districts release guidelines and schedules for the upcoming school year, principals and superintendents will drive decisions about how schools reopen and how they work with their afterschool partners. Collaboration between out-of-school time and in-school time is more important than… Read more »
Professional Development in 2019-20: In-person vs. Virtual
In 2019-20 we offered a total of 72 workshops, including in-person and virtual trainings. Here we take a look at the overall evaluations results and determine any major differences between the two types.