It’s a big day for Vermont’s youth! Two groundbreaking bills (S.197 and H.293) that are primed to make a positive, transformational difference in the lives of Vermont’s youth passed through the governor’s desk Wednesday, May 11, and will become law. The first youth-focused bill to become law, S.197, An act relating to the provision of… Read more »
Category: Blog
Youth Focus Group Recommendations
As you all know, Vermont Afterschool has a mission of strengthening programs, building partnerships, and transforming communities so that all Vermont youth are active, engaged, connected, and heard. We have been encouraging, supporting, and sometimes challenging youth-serving organizations to intentionally create space for youth voice and youth leadership in their programs. This summer, we went… Read more »
Promoting Physical and Emotional Well-being for Youth
After a long year of online classes and Zoom meetings, young people in Vermont are ready for the summer filled with fun. And we, as youth workers and third space program providers, cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity to have a meaningful impact on our youths’ lives. Just like adults, youth lost control… 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 »
Vermont Afterschool Helps Programs Get Clean Hands This Summer
With the temperatures rising, many young people (and more than a few parents) are clamoring for summer programming this year. Many programs across the state have responded to step up and run in-person programming this summer. Vermont Afterschool has helped to guide program leaders through the requirements and guidelines that come with running programming during… Read more »
We Are Afterschool
We know afterschool is part of the solution. We’ve seen it time and time again in the high-quality programs that keep kids safe, support working families, and engage learners. We’ve seen it in summer learning programs; we’ve seen it in the third space for older youth; and we’ve seen the positive outcomes that boost student… Read more »
Adapt & Evolve: The Story of Wings’ Virtual April Vacation Camp
By Maria Stewart, Co-Director of the Wings Community Programs Wings Community Programs is launching the April Blast Virtual Program Camp for students grades K-12 during school vacation next week, April 20-24. We have an incredible group of talented, innovative, creative, and extraordinary program leaders who have truly taken the idea of virtual programming to new heights! We… Read more »
A COVID-19 Resource Library Just for YOU
One of the many challenges that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the management and distribution of information. Things have been changing day-to-day and hour to hour and it’s tough to keep up. I, for one, have had to battle some “information overload” and finding genuinely useful resources in the piles of what’s… Read more »
In This Together: How we are supporting the field through COVID-19
As a field committed to relationships and networks, we are thinking deeply about what the COVID-19 pandemic means for youth-serving organizations in the out-of-school time hours and ensuring they are sustained in ways that are intentional and responsive. As our physical routines are broken and movements are restricted, it can lead to us becoming trapped… Read more »
Afterschool Resources for the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
*Updated 3/17/20 Vermont schools and afterschool programs are closed too. So what does that mean from here on out? We don’t know any better than anyone else what is ahead of us or how long the disruption will go on for, but we will do our best to offer up-to-date resources and ways to help.… Read more »
