You serve America’s youth. Youth Today serves you. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 WWW.YOUTHTODAY.ORG VOL. 22, NO. 5 Expanded Learning The New Key to Increase Student Achievement Experts say partnership, data-sharing and professional development poise providers to help students and schools increase achievement YOUTH TODAY SPECIAL REPORT $65ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDES A FULL YEAR OF YOUTH TODAY IN PRINT, Attend an ACA Conference Event in Your Area! Local Conferences through April Tri-State Camp Conference (sponsored by ACA, New York and New Jersey, and ACA, Keystone) — March 18–21, Atlantic City, New Jersey ACA, New England — March 28–29, Manchester, New Hampshire Spring Leadership Conference (sponsored by ACA, Southern California / Hawaii) — April 1–4, 2014, Palm Springs, California Mid States Camping Conference (sponsored by ACA, Illinois) — April 10–12, 2014, St. Charles, Illinois Camp Works 2014 (sponsored by ACA, Northern California) — April 25–27, Felton, California For more events, including local standards trainings, retreats, and educational sessions, visit ACA’s Events Calendar: www.ACAcamps.org/events. 30 CAMPING magazine • March/April 2014 Turning Camp Counselors into Nature Specialists continued from page 29 series). The students also need to select an age group to which they will be teaching the lesson. The entire morning is devoted to preparing the plan. The groups have access to all of the resources in our 1,000- volume nature library, and Deb, Russ, and I circulate to answer questions and help out where we can. One of the things that we have to keep emphasizing is that games and activities must serve the objectives of the plan and not the other way around. It is very tempting to find a great game and put it first. In the afternoon, each group teaches its plan while everyone else acts as campers. After each presentation, we ask first the teachers, then the other participants, then Deb, Russ, and I to comment on what went well and what they would do differently next time. This year, we had lessons with two different approaches to learning about leaves and trees, one about ponds and streams, and one about sensory awareness on the trail. This last lesson had the memorable activity, “Who is a naturalist?” As the kids shouted out answers about who and what a naturalist is, one of the “instructors” was busy writing on a white board, but no one could see what she was writing. When it was revealed, the answer was “YOU!” This activity is probably the most important thing that we do. Everyone finds out how hard teaching is and how hard it is to plan and execute a lesson plan. It is a humbling experience, but the participants also finish feeling empowered because they know what to expect and what they need to do. Thursday Evening and Friday: Teaching When You’re Not There and HELP! Because we had such a large group this year, we had our final lesson plan presentation on Thursday evening, before retiring to a well-deserved campfire and s’mores feast. On Friday morning, we repeated the exercise, but with displays. These are ways to teach when no one is there. (It’s how museums work.) It is also a way to familiarize everyone with the resources that are available to them. Each group spends the morning (and part of the afternoon) working on a project that, when completed, is evaluated in the same way as the lesson plans (“What worked?” “What would you do differently?” “What Youth Today—the only national print and digital publication for youthservice professionals—has an exclusive offer just for ACA members: $10.00 off of our $65.00 yearly subscription rate. Use code ACAMBRS when ordering your subscription. Visit www.YouthToday.org or call (678) 797-2898 to place your subscription order today. By Jamaal Abdul-Alim At PS 188, a middle school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, teaching artists from a partner organization bring social studies to life through plays, puppet shows and painting. In Chicago, education and nonprofit leaders collaborated to find a legal way to access and share student data from the public schools that would have otherwise been confidential. They ultimately used the data to enhance and expand youth-development programs to reach thousands more young people throughout the city. At the Family Resource Center in Valley Palms Apartments, a low-income housing community in San Jose, Calif., a staffer uses lessons from a professional development training to create engaging theme-based activities for the center’s after-school and summer enrichment programs. youthdevelopment specialists say, In all three cases, workers were employing the kind of best practices that they should within the evolving field of expanded learning. Such practices will be key in assisting schools that are under perpetual pressure to raise student achievement and prepare young people for college and careers. By James Swift More than 3 million U.S. children and teens participate in organized youth football programs — and another 3 million in US Soccer play, the nation’s largest youth sports organization. Last year alone, nearly 300,000 youths, ages 5 to 15 participated in Pop Warner play, the nation’s largest youth football program. Recent data linking football with heightened concussion risks have generated much debate about the overall safety of youth football, with more than 40 states officially passing legislation outlining mandated concussion safety procedures for young players since 2009. PHOTO COURTESY OF EXPANDED SCHOOLS BY TASC Photo caption xxxx xxx Tackling Sports Safety Head On Amid concussion concerns, youth sports programs are making changes to protect athletes Child Abuse In the U.S., mandatory reporting laws, intending to prevent and limit child abuse, are set at the state level. A guide to what’s mandatory and best practices in reporting. Page 6 After-School Programs After-school programs require engaging, effective activities — but also sound policies and procedures to identify and limit risks and potential liabilities. Page 10 Increasing Access to Higher Education Tips, hands-onn help and essential resources and programs for youth-serving professionals. Page 22 © 2013 YOUTH TODAY • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED LEARNING continued on Page 20 BACK TO SCHOOL INSIDE Agencies share lessons in quest to build better programs, partnerships, data-sharing and professional development. Page 21 SAFETY continued on Page 14 ILLUSTRATION BY RAINEY RAWLES PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY • 24/7 ACCESS TO YOUTHTODAY.ORG • WEEKLY GRANTS AVAILABLE E-NEWSLETTER • YOUTH TODAY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER • TWO FREE ON-DEMAND WEBINARS AND ACCESS TO SPECIAL-RATE WEBINARS
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