BOSTnet: News and Events - Training and Events

Roundtable Schedule

BOSTnet Guide to Boston's Before and After School Programs

Roundtable Series 2009/ 2010

BOSTnet Leadership Roundtables give leaders in the out-of-school time (OST) field an opportunity to learn from each other, share resources and ideas, and learn what really works for OST program providers and youth. For over fourteen years, BOSTnet's Leadership Roundtables have been providing quality support to OST programs in Boston and statewide, and we are back by popular demand to serve the North Shore!

BOSTnet Roundtables provide organizations or practitioners:

Over 20 hours of affordable professional development
Networking opportunities
Communications
Visibility as a collaborator
BOSTnet toolkits
DEEC Hours
United Way requirements

Boston Series

Thursday, January 28th, 2010 9:30am-12:30pm
Location: Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
Topic: Everything you wanted to know about talking to youth but were afraid to ASK.
This experiential workshop will focus on building communication skills and strategies for engaging in effective conversations for those who serve youth.
Registration: is now closed - seating space is limited so please no drop-ins on the day of! Please contact Monica Zgola at zgola@bostnet.org if you'd like to be added to the wait list.
March 2010 - date & topic coming soon!

North Shore Series

Thursday, October 29th, 2009 10am-12pm
Location: Greater Lynn YMCA, 20 Neptune Blvd, Lynn, MA 01902
Topic: Information about upcoming Department of Early Education & Care (EEC) regulation changes - presented by EEC; School Age Child Care Certificate Program - presentation by North Shore Community College
Thursday, February 11th, 2010 10am-12pm
Location: Peabody-Lynnfield YMCA, Peabody, MA
Topic: Promoting Program Quality through Family Engagement
Registration: open in January
Thursday, April 15th, 2010 10am-12pm
Location: Community Teamwork, Inc. Lowell, MA
Topic: Accreditation for Out-of-School Time Programs
Registration: open in January

More information to follow about the Roundtables and how to RSVP for each, so please keep watch for future email announcements from BOSTnet and check our website frequently at www.bostnet.org.

In 2008-2009 Build the Out-of-School Time Network (BOSTnet) Roundtables convened over 500 Out-of-School professionals in and around Boston. BOSTnet is expanding our work throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to new locations and is looking for your support to do so. Using in results from our evaluations and feedback from the field, we will offer a series of original work covering topics that are key issues of the field such as behavior management, family engagement, inclusion of diverse learners, and Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) projects. We are currently identifying partnerships with organizations who see BOSTnet Roundtables as a vehicle for their own organization's professional development needs as well as contribution to building the field. Please consider your organization as a partner in the Leadership Roundtables.

We are looking for commitments for Boston, the North Shore, the South Shore, and Worcester this summer to launch our Autumn series. Please contact BOSTnet at info@bostnet.org to learn more about how to sponsor this series. To see highlights of past roundtables and a final year end review visit our blog at http://bostnet.blogspot.com/2009/04/bostnet-roundtable-year-in-review.html or www.youtube.com/bostnet.

2008/2009 BOSTnet Leadership Roundtable Series Review

All Means All - 2009 - Thank YOU!

BOSTnet would like to thank the more than 200 attendees, workshop presenters, speakers and others who made this year's All Means All Conference a huge success. In particular, we would like to thank Dan Lebowitz of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society (Northeastern University) and Charlie Washburn of VSA arts of Massachusetts for getting the day started. Both had powerful messages about the connection between inclusion and human rights and the power of imagination and creativity to foster learning in ALL children and youth. As Charlie clearly pointed out in the beginning of his remarks, "you (OST staff) have the most important job in the world."

From our evaluations and conversations with attendees it is clear that most see this conference as a key professional development opportunity for OST educators and youth workers. They liked the expanded workshop offerings and find value in learning direct, hands-on strategies to engage children and youth of all different abilities in meaningful learning and enrichment. This year's workshops include training on serving the needs of children and youth with both developmental and physical disabilities, literacy, work programs for at-risk youth, mental health issues from a youth development perspective, staff safety, and others. Significantly, we handed out a large number of certificates of attendance which certainly indicates a high need for professional development credit for staff of licensed providers. Well over 90 percent of attendees reported coming away with a deeper understanding of inclusion issues and new strategies to improve their program's practices.

Networking is also a key value provided by this conference and, in fact, most attendees indicated that they want more explicit opportunities to connect with each other and share perspectives on their work. We've always felt that this conference provided an opportunity to engage local and state level policymakers who set the afterschool and OST agenda for the state. Last year we heard directly from the co-chairs of the Massachusetts Commission on Afterschool and Out-of-School Time-Senator Thomas McGee and Representative Marie St. Fleur. This year we organized a lunchtime panel discussion with Secretary of Education Paul Reville, DESE Commissioner Mitchell Chester and DEEC Commissioner Sherri Killins, moderated by Dr. Gil Noam of the Program for Education Afterschool and Resiliency. Josh Kraft, the Nicholas President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston opened our lunch program and introduced our first speaker, Education Secretary Paul Reville.

In his remarks, Secretary Reville outlined a primary goal of his office to create a more equitable education system where all children are elevated and supported in a way that fosters learning and school success. He even linked that goal to the name of our conference - All Means All. Noting that the K-12 system cannot do it alone, Reville spoke at length about the need for innovative partners in our communities and schools to create "mutually reinforcing systems for children". Reville challenged us to find commonalities between the various dichotomies that pervade our education system--charter vs. district, ELA immersion vs. bilingual instruction, expanded learning time vs. afterschool, in order to connect to a broader shared mission. Despite this opportunity, Reville did acknowledge the lack of equity in the system and pledged to continue to work to make schools more transparent and open to community involvement. Commissioner Killins echoed these sentiments, noting that there is wide variation in how collaborations work across the state and that they are often most dependent upon building strong relationships at the local level.

The panel discussion touched upon many areas, including how we assess children in schools, recovery act funding opportunities through "Race to the Top," and the Innovation Grant program (i3), and professional development. One area of discussion seems ripe for more intentional work - collaborative professional development for teachers, OST educators and youth workers. There seems to be widespread agreement that we must continue to advance our knowledge through more collaborative efforts that find synergies between the teaching profession and youth development. One major announcement to this end was Governor Patrick's recent creation of six Readiness Centers across the state to develop more effective and accessible professional development opportunities for teachers. As Reville, noted, there are opportunities here to integrate training and technical assistance to all adults who work with youth across a variety of developmental settings. Please see the Advocacy Section of the October 2009 BUZZ to read more about these centers.

Finally, many thanks to our workshop providers who help make this conference successful year after year. A great group of City Year volunteers helped us with registration and room set-up and allowed us to focus on other work to ensure a smooth start to the day. We also could not make this event possible without the continued support of our sponsors and benefactors-The Dammann Boston Fund, The Center for the Study of Sport in Society, The Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, The Carl & Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, The Croll Foundation, and The State Street Foundation.

We hope you will all join us again next year for the 6th Annual All Means All Conference!

5th Annual All Means All Conference! Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in OST

We are very excited to announce this year's All Means All Conference program! Our Opening Session speaker is Charlie Washburn, Executive Director of VSA arts of Massachusetts with Secretary of Education Paul Reville, the Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester and Department of Early Education and Care Commissioner Sherri Killins who will join us for a panel discussion, moderated by Gil Noam, Executive Director of PEAR, during our lunchtime program. Secretary Reville and Commissioner Chester will discuss the importance of creating engaging, inclusive learning environments for all children and youth in Massachusetts both in and out-of-school. As the largest funders of afterschool programs, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has an important role to play in developing high quality staff that can address the needs of diverse learners and children with physical or intellectual disabilities. This is a great opportunity for OST educators and youth workers to hear directly from our education leaders who are setting the agenda for education reform in Massachusetts.

This event would not be possible without our ongoing partnership with the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. Since the first conference in 2004, the Center has graciously sponsored the All Means All conference in the Curry Student Center Ballroom. Special thanks to our long-time collaborator at the Center, Eli Wolff, Manager of Research & Advocacy, and Center director Dan Lebowitz. This event woul not be possible without their continuing support!

Date: Friday, October 9th, 2009 9am-3pm

Location: Curry Student Center, Northeastern University

As always, All Means All will provide a full day of networking and learning opportunities that provide staff access to workshops from leading professionals in the field to build their skills and knowledge in specific inclusion-related areas. As in previous years, we anticipate that Department of Early Education and Care training hours will be provided to all attendees of this conference. This year we are including a number new workshops to expand our ability to address the needs of diverse learners and at-risk older youth:

Making Creativity (Theater & Dance) Universally Accessible to All Donna Folan, Artistic Director and Co-Creator of Access To Theatre and Artistic Director of Until Tomorrow Productions
Engaging Literacy Activities: Fun, Hands-On and Inclusive! Rachel Hess and Sarah Farbo, ReadBoston
Bringing the School to the Community Gene Capoccia, Leominster Housing Authority; Gina Wirnonen, Allencrest Learning Center; and, David Eisen, Abacus Architects + Planners
SPA Works…Do You? – A Work Experience Program That Works Laura Malmstrom, School Councilor, Sarah Pyle Academy
How to Create an Inclusive Environment: Practical Tips for Afterschool and Youth Work Professionals Kaela Vronsky and Melanie Marzolf, Partners for Youth with Disabilities
Asperger Syndrome: A View from Within Jean Stern, Director of Children’s Services, Asperger’s Association of New England
Creating a Climate of Safety for All Youth and Staff Andi Genser, Manager, BE SAFE
KIDS Afterschool Workshop Cora Carey, Afterschool Program Manager, Boston Children’s Museum
Youth Development and Mental Health: Beyond Disorder, Into Wellness Laurie Jo Wallace and Mo Barbosa, The BEST Initiative, Health Resources in Action
Families Creating Together: A Community-Based Accessible Arts Program Ed Pazzanese, Accessibility Coordinator, Spontaneous Celebrations

Registration is now open for this unique professional development opportunity. This is also a great time to become a member of Build the Out-of-School Time Network and join your colleagues in creating a strong professional association dedicated to quality afterschool and OST programs and strong policies to promote and foster a comprehensive workforce development system in the Commonwealth. Join today and receive more than 30 percent off your registration fee for the All Means All conference.

WORKSHOPS: For a full description of the workshops, click here for the 2009 Program Packet.

REGISTER: Registration is now closed.

RESOURCE TABLES: If your organization would like to host a Resource Table, Download a Resource & Exhibit Table Registration.

Read the report on our 2008 All Means All Conference here.

View the 2008 All Means ALL Conference agenda here.

SUPPORT THE 5th ANNUAL ALL MEANS ALL Conference!

This year will mark 5 years of the All Means All Conference and our very special partnership with Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. The 2009 Conference will take place on October 9^th, 2009 at Northeastern University's Curry Student Center.

SPECIAL LUNCHTIME PANEL DISCUSSION:
Join us for a lunchtime discussion with Massachusetts Secretary of Education, Paul Reville, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell D. Chester, and the Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care, Sherri Killins.

PLEASE JOIN US! There are many ways you can support this energizing event to create and sustain meaningful opportunities for children with disabilities.

ATTEND the All Means All Conference - Meet people from a variety of sectors who are dedicated to improving the lives of children with disabilities. Click here to register.