Let Youth Lead

Source: FAB Youth Philly

By Guest Blogger, Rebecca Fabiano, Founder & President, FAB Youth Philly
(This was originally published on the FAB Youth Philly Blog for Youth Workers.)

Rebecca Fabiano

We know that Out-of-School Time programs are in a unique position to support young people in their demands for safer schools, equity and justice. For many of us, a social justice lens is at the core of our work with children and teens. Helping them develop their voice and providing opportunity for them to develop leadership skills is key to our approach in support of their moral, social, emotional and cognitive developmental needs. 

Whether it is through a project-based learning (PBL) approach, through service learning, in support of their social & emotional learning (SEL) or through college and career preparation with an emphasis on 21st Century Skills like communication, problem solving and team work. It's one of the things we do best. As youth are finding their voice and establishing their demands, we must continue to offer safe spaces for them. 

Source: www.pexels.com

This includes spaces where participants are looking out for each other and empower them to look for signs of depression, anxiety and trauma. Do you have a process whereby youth can get help when they think something is 'wrong' and a peer might be depressed or acting differently? Does your program encourage and embrace mistakes? 

Do you look for teachable moments as opportunities for growth? Life is an iterative process and sometimes we learn the most when a caring adult or peer is there to help us reflect on our experiences. Include young people in the rules- making; and include them in the process for establishing and upholding the consequences. Do participants know it's OK to be 'different'? Safety also means being able to make mistakes or to be different without fear or ridicule. Is your space decorated with artifacts that represent the people you work with? Are you using language that is inclusive and culturally appropriate? Are there mechanisms in place for everyone to come together as a community? Some programs start and each day collectively, others come together for special occasions or other traditions. The more we can come together as a whole, the more we can take care of each other. Provide time for your staff to come together to get support and for training if they need it or ask for it. 

While there are many other things you already do to keep youth safe, remember: always be honest. Because we work with children and youth of all ages, do it in a way that meets them where they are at. You don't have to have all of the answers or be right. Go back to the suggestion about creating teachable moments; when we show youth that we are learning too, and often learning FROM them, it is empowering. If we have a different opinion than a colleague or our agency or a difference in politics, it's an opportunity to learn and connect. 

Source: www.pexels.com

Something to keep in mind during this time: Schools may have a harder time doing some of the things that we do so well; what ways can you partner with schools during these times? Can youth provide peer to peer support? Workshops or training? Can your staff mentor or work on a project alongside a school teacher? While the OST field plays an important role is supporting and empowering youth, we must also take seriously their demands and put pressure on the systems and policy makers to meet those demands. When we do, everyone can be more safe, and our world more equitable and just. Read this statement from the National Afterschool Association on their stance on the #PowerOfAfterschool and their commitment to supporting the filed.

MORE ABOUT...

Rebecca Fabiano is the president and founder of Fab Youth Philly. For nearly 25 years, she has worked in various capacities across nonprofit and youth-serving organizations, served on boards and helped to build solid youth programs that engage, encourage, and create spaces for positive development. 

Fab Youth Philly (FYP) has a unique, holistic model for youth development. Their three-pronged approach to youth development is aimed at creating relevant, engaging, and empowering learning opportunities at the individual, professional, and community level. First, they provide innovative, award-winning summer and afterschool programs for teens with a focus on workforce development programming. Second, they connect with youth development professionals working with or on behalf of youth through their Center for Youth Development Professionals (CYDP), which offers competency-based professional development and networking opportunities. Third, they consult with other youth-serving organizations to provide a range of consulting services, ranging from curriculum development to retreats and small

conferences. 

Field Trips Are Good for Adults Too and Great for Professional Development

Source: www.thinktogether.org

By Guest Blogger Rebecca Fabiano, Founder and ED of Fab Youth Philly

I recently wrote a blog about why field trips are a good idea for adults and a great tool for professional development. Read more of our blogs here. 

Some of my most memorable experiences of school and my time afterschool are of the field trips I took! Tons of research reports that field trips can make learning more engaging, they can deepen social skills, expose young people to things they may not have known about or thought they had access to, and also provide the opportunity for young people to make real-life connections to what they are learning.

Why limit all of these great things to young people? As adults, our learning can also deepen when have the opportunity to make real-life connections, when we can apply what we are learning in meaningful ways and when we can strengthen and expand our networks or access to information and opportunity. These are a few reasons why we include field trips in the professional development strategies we facilitate. Whether it's hosting the monthly Sandbox in a local coffee shop, or visiting various youth programs through one of professional learning communities we facilitate or with our own staff to expand our networks or resources. 

Before heading out on your field trip, provide some context. For example, before I took a group up to visit the Wooden Boat Factory, I had them watch a brief video about their work and peruse their website. This allows staff to ask informed questions. Maybe you have them do a 'scavenger hunt' while they are at the location, where they have to meet certain people, or gather certain information about the program. Just the same way you would if you were taking a group of youth. Being intentional about the experience you want your staff to have is 50% of what makes it meaningful.  

There are SO many places to go on a field trip, and quite a number of them don't have to cost very much, if anything at all! 

Below are some examples of potential field trips for your staff that would also make for great professional development opportunities. 

• Go visit another OST program! There are scores of youth programs in your city. Go for a walk with your staff in the neighborhood where your program takes place, and map or count how many other youth programs there are within .25 miles. You might be surprised. 
• Visit your local library. Many are FILLED with all kinds of resources; computers, maker spaces; some even have a café. They are not the old, dark places where the librarian used to come around and ‘shush’ you if you were too loud. Many have recently undergone serious make overs!
• Visit a Board Member’s office. Some of us have board members that work in fancy or interesting places; take your staff to visit a board member at his or her office. It’s a great way for staff to learn more about the board (at least that particular board member) and, depending on where the office is may expose staff to a new business or organization or a new part of the city.

If you're still not sure where to go, ask your staff. Then, get out there! 

MORE ABOUT…

For nearly 25 years, Rebecca Fabiano (She/Her/Hers) has worked in various capacities across nonprofit and youth-serving organizations, served on boards and helped to build solid youth programs that engage, encourage, and create spaces for positive development. As a program leader, she has successfully raised funds and managed program budgets; hired and supervised staff; developed and sustained strong community partnerships and designed award-winning programming.

Fab Youth Philly (FYP) is a Philadelphia-based youth development organization that provides innovative, award-winning programming for youth, with a programmatic focus on workforce development opportunities for teens ages 15-19. 

Why arts education matters: A conversation with Jessica Mele

Source: www.unsplash.com

By Guest Blogger Karen D’Souza, Ed Source Writer

(This blog was originally published on Ed Source. To view the original post, click here.)

By day, Jessica Mele is a mild-mannered program officer in the performing arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation specializing in arts education. By night, she’s a sketch comedy maven best known as a founding member of a cheeky San Francisco-based troupe. She’s also a writer/performer working on a solo show about the drama of motherhood, “Eat the Mama.” 

A lifelong arts advocate, from serving as executive director at San Francisco’s Performing Arts Workshop to being part of the national advisory council of the Teaching Artists Guild, Mele recently made time to chat about the inequities in arts education in California, where research shows only 11% of schools offer access to a comprehensive arts education, and how Proposition 28, the groundbreaking Arts and Music in Schools initiative which launches this fall, may be a game-changer for creativity in learning.

Q: How did we ever let the arts get cut from the public schools? 

A: The public divestment from arts education in California is directly tied to the public divestment of education in California. Prop. 13, coupled with other anti-tax legislation from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, has led to a financially starved system. In that state of starvation, cultural expectations about the arts as “enrichment” or a benefit for the “talented” kids drive funding decisions that de-prioritize arts and culture. This feeds existing racial and class inequities in arts education access and teacher demographics because those educators who are more likely to have firsthand experience with the arts tend to be those whose families could access the arts through private means, often white or Asian, and wealthy. 

Q: How do you feel about the passage of Prop. 28 in 2022? 

A: Prop. 28 is something to celebrate. I never thought I would see so much money for arts education in California schools in my lifetime. It isn’t perfect, and it will require a lot of adjusting on the part of the California Department of Education and schools to distribute and spend the money wisely. It’s not nearly enough, given the size and scale of the student body in California schools. And at the same time, it’s more money than we’ve seen for arts education in this state in decades. 

Source: Spotlight: Girls

Q: What challenges lie ahead? 

A: Principals and schools are going to be challenged to figure out how to spend it. Arts teachers and arts organizations will have a responsibility to do something they’ve never had to do before: instead of plugging holes in a school’s arts education program, they can provide thoughtful guidance to principals on how to develop an arts education program that is responsive to their school community’s culture and needs. It is a game changer. And now it’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that it’s implemented thoughtfully. 

Q: How does being a mom impact your view of the arts in education? 

A: I guard my child’s right to imagination. I try to cultivate that at home in play, drawing and painting. I try to ask questions about his thought process, his feelings as he was creating his artwork, the creative choices he made. In early childhood education, this is just good pedagogy. But, often in arts education at the secondary level we stop at the product: “What is it?” But those comments and questions don’t treat the artwork for what it is: an expression of a child’s learning process and their view of the world. I try to help him make meaning out of the things he creates. And I try to say “yes” to every creative impulse he has, even if I feel silly. And I tell him that his imagination is one of his most important assets. 

In preschool, my son would come home with artwork that ignored the lines. He used so many colors – he loves colors – and filled the page with shapes and scribbles. It was impossible to understand what something “was.” And he was disappointed because kids in school told him that his art wasn’t “good” because it didn’t look like the thing it was supposed to be, a train or a car or a Pokémon or a rainbow bear. I tried to ... encourage him in his own creative journey. Art doesn’t have to look like something to be beautiful. It doesn’t have to be clear to be interesting or to have meaning. 

Q: What do you think people outside the arts most need to know about how arts ed can touch children’s lives? Perhaps especially now, post-pandemic? 

A: Art and creativity is not a panacea. But it is certainly a balm, especially for many teens right now who are suffering from mental health issues post-pandemic. The creative process involves a reflective process of observing a creative problem, making a judgment about it, responding or expressing within an art form, and then – this is key and often missed in arts education — reflecting and revising. In other words, the creative process is a way of learning that helps young people make meaning out of their world, express their take on that meaning, and reflect on the interaction between their artwork and their surroundings, school, community, friends, family. In adolescence in particular, this cognitive process is key to developing abstract thinking skills. 

MORE ABOUT...

Karen D’Souza covers arts education, literacy, and early education. She is an award-winning writer who comes to EdSource after covering lifestyle, parenting, health, housing, education and the arts for the San Jose Mercury News. She is a four-time Pulitzer juror and her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and Seattle Times.

 

Jessica Mele is a Program Officer in Performing Arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She manages a diverse portfolio of grants, with a particular focus on arts education advocacy and policy. Previously, Jessica was executive director at Performing Arts Workshop, an arts education organization in San Francisco. During that time, she was also an active arts education advocate, serving on the executive committee of the Arts Provider’s Alliance of San Francisco, the steering committee of the Alameda Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, and the national advisory council of Teaching Artist’s Guild. In addition, Jessica advocated with community-based organizations outside of the arts sector as part of the steering committee of the Family Budget Coalition in San Francisco, which was active in drafting legislation and re-authorizing the city’s Children’s Fund and Public Education Enrichment Fund in 2014.

EdSource is a nonprofit newsroom devoted to covering equity in education which believes that access to a quality education is an important right of all children. They believe that an informed, involved public is necessary to strengthen California’s schools, improve student success and build a better workforce. EdSource works to engage Californians on key education challenges with the goal of enhancing learning success. It does so by providing timely, useful and accurate information to key education stakeholders and the larger public; advancing awareness of major education initiatives being implemented in California and nationally; and highlighting effective models and strategies intended to improve student outcomes, as well as identifying areas that are in need of repair or reform.

 

Afterschool Resources to Support LGBTQ+ Youth

Source: National Afterschool Association

By Sam Piha

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month. This month-long celebration demonstrates how LGBTQ+ Americans have strengthened our country, by using their talent and creativity to help create awareness and goodwill. To learn more about the history of Pride month, check out this article from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month. 

Temescal Associates and the How Kids Learn Foundation stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and the ongoing fight for equality. Thus, we were alarmed when many states mounted attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. In response we developed several resources to combat these attacks which are listed below.

Learning In Afterschool & Summer Blogs 

• Our Resolution: Defeat Anti-LGBTQ Bills in 2023
• Four Things to Remember About Supporting LGBTQ Youth
• Defending LGBTQ+ Youth: Voices Beyond the Bubble Part 1
• Defending LGBTQ+ Youth: Voices Beyond the Bubble Part 2
• Political Attacks on LGBTQ+ Youth: The Role of the Afterschool Community and Funders
• LGBTQ+ Youth's Rights Under Attack: STEP 1 (Part 1)
• LGBTQ+ Youth's Rights Under Attack: STEP 1 (Part 2)
• LGBTQ+ and Youth Allyship
• LGBTQ+ Youth Rights
• LGBTQ+: Important Terms and Definitions
• You Can't "De-Gay" Our GSA

Briefing Papers

• Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Afterschool Programs and Opposing Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
• Afterschool And The Education Culture Wars

 

Webinar

• Education Culture Wars and Maintaining Bipartisan Support for Afterschool

A Catalogue of Professional Development Resources (Written and Video)

A comprehensive listing of professional development resources produced by Temescal Associates and The How Kids Learn Foundation. 

Source: www.pexels.com

Reed Larson’s Research on Youth Development

Source: Reed Larson, The Youth Development Experience

Kate Walker

By Guest Blogger Kate Walker, Extension Specialist, Youth Development, University of Minnesota Extension. This blog was originally published by the University of Minnesota Extension.

I recently attended the annual meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence where my mentor Reed Larson was invited to reflect on his influential research career in youth development. Reed first got interested in adolescence because he saw it as a critical period of awakening. Yet he noticed that most research focused on problems more than development, and he discovered that youth programs were powerful spaces for this awakening and development to occur. These insights propelled an impressive body of research that has tremendous implications for our work with and on behalf of young people. 

Young people’s daily experiences and emotions

With his mentor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Reed began by studying adolescents’ daily experiences and emotions, pioneering the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) where young people were prompted (with beepers back then!) to report on their feelings and the dynamics of their experiences in different domains in their daily lives. He explored their media use, time alone, experience with friends, and school experience.  

Reed Larson and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

He discovered that during their typical experiences in school, young people were challenged (deep attention) but not engaged (intrinsically motivated). Conversely during unstructured leisure time, they were engaged but not challenged. The one unique context where young people reported experiencing the rare combination of high levels of challenge and engagement was in organized youth programs (arts, STEM, leadership, sports). He was intrigued.

Youth programs as developmental contexts

This led Reed to develop a series of studies focused on young people’s developmental experiences in youth programs and how staff facilitate these experiences. His research teams identified the types of key experiences that young people have in high-quality youth programs that facilitate their development of skills for teamwork, solving problems, managing emotions, and sustaining motivation in challenging work. He found that project-based youth programs are settings in which Csikszentmihalyi’s "flow" experience serves as a powerful catalyst for developing vital adult skills.

These findings are widely used to design programs and train program staff. They were the basis for a researcher-practitioner collaboration that resulted in a field guide of key youth experiences and staff practices that build valuable social and emotional skills. His groundbreaking research on the lives of young people and the developmental role of youth programs helped to both launch and legitimize the field of positive youth development. 

I most appreciate how respectfully rooted Reed’s research is in the direct experiences and accounts of young people. Throughout he has always emphasized that youth are agents or producers of their own development. Are there aspects of his research that speak to or influence you and your work? 

MORE ABOUT...

Kate Walker, (she/her), is the Extension Specialist, Youth Development at University of Minnesota Extension. Kate provides leadership to the understanding and development of youth work practice. She studies the role that adult program leaders, staff and volunteers play in supporting youth development in programs. She also leads professional development efforts aimed at supporting and improving youth work practice. This includes trainings on social and emotional learning and on the dilemmas that practitioners face in their everyday work with young people. 

The University of Minnesota Extension has a long history of youth development leadership. They are best known for running Minnesota 4-H for more than 100 years. The 4-H program also serves as their laboratory of learning, in which they are constantly improving. Their mission is to improve the lives of all Minnesota young people - no matter where they live or which youth program they choose to join.

Survey Results Point to a Summer of Learning and Engagement Ahead for Young People

Source: Afterschool Alliance

By Guest Blogger Nikki Yamashiro. This was originally posted by Afterschool Alliance on the Afterschool Snack Blog.

As the temperature starts to rise, and in D.C., we start to feel the familiar humidity creep into the air, one’s thoughts can’t help but turn to summer—and for those of us at the Afterschool Alliance, that includes thinking about what the state of summer programming will look like. If this upcoming summer is anything like the last, we anticipate summer programs to be open and ready to provide fun, academically enriching, and hands-on learning opportunities for their students.

Based on a survey of 989 summer program providers conducted late last year—October 31 through December 5, 2023—more than 9 in 10 (96 percent) reported that they offered programming during the 2023 summer, similar to the number of providers reporting that they offered programming during the 2022 summer (96 percent), and up from the summers of 2021 (88 percent) and 2020 (79 percent). Additionally, nearly 1 in 3 programs (32 percent) said that they expanded their summer program to serve more children and 1 in 10 (11 percent) were able to offer summer programs at more sites than in the past. When asked about the type of activities offered, nearly 3 in 10 summer program providers said that they placed a greater focus on ensuring a balance of academic and enrichment activities for their young people (28 percent) and were more intentionally focusing on students’ holistic needs and supporting their overall well-being (27 percent).  

However, providing summer programming wasn’t without its challenges. Forty-four percent of summer program providers said that there was a waitlist for their program, although down slightly from the 48 percent of summer providers who reported a waitlist for their 2022 summer program. Additionally, 62 percent of summer providers said that they were concerned about their ability to meet the demand from families.

Summer providers’ level of concern about staffing their program may help shed some light on the issue of waitlists, with three-quarters of providers (75 percent) concerned about being able to hire enough staff for their summer programming, including half (50 percent) who said that they were extremely or very concerned. Summer program providers’ concerns over staffing mirrors concerns afterschool program providers reported about their fall programming, where 81 percent reported concerns about finding staff, retaining staff, or both. 

Looking ahead, nearly three-quarters of summer program providers (74 percent) said that they felt optimistic about the future of their program, which also bodes well for this upcoming summer. To see the full survey findings, visit our Afterschool Program Provider Survey page. If you are a provider looking for ideas, tools, or resources for your summer program, National Summer Learning Association’s Summer Planning Bootcamp webinar series is available now to watch recordings of the two day event. The Wallace Foundation’s Summer Learning Toolkit is another valuable resource, where you can find a planning calendar, sample job descriptions and staff handbooks, facilitation guides, sustainability tools, and more to help you bring your best summer program forward for your students and families.

MORE ABOUT...

Nikki Yamashiro joined the Afterschool Alliance in June 2012. In her current role, Nikki coordinates, manages, and advances the Afterschool Alliance’s research efforts, including developing the organization's research goals and agenda and effectively communicating findings on afterschool and summer programs to policy makers, afterschool providers, advocates, and the public.

The Afterschool Alliance is a national organization that works to ensure that all youth have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs by engaging public will to increase public and private investment in afterschool program initiatives at the national, state, and local levels.

Youth Vote 2024: Youth Voice

Source: Our Time is Now: CA Pre-Registration PSA

By Sam Piha

“I registered to vote because youth and women fought hard so people like me could vote. I want to use that privilege to help me make decisions that will make my country better for all. After mailing in my first ballot, I felt like an adult and I was proud that I fulfilled a giant responsibility that makes a difference.” [i] – Anthea, high school student 

What do young people say about voting and elections? Below are a few videos worth viewing and sharing with youth. Click on the images below to view some videos.



Source: Why Should Young People Vote?

“Why should young people vote? As we grapple with racial inequities, violence and a pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans, this year's presidential election may be the most important in modern history. Many students say they're energized to vote, but will they? Fewer than half of those 18 to 29 voted in the 2016 presidential election…We asked two Boston University students involved in voter registration initiatives to talk about the importance of registering casting your ballot and staying politically involved beyond sporting an 'I voted' sticker. Here's what they had to say about why young people should vote.” [ii]

Source: Kids Voting in FHSD

The above story follows students at Saeger Middle School in the Francis Howell School District (FHSD) and shows how Mr. Van Horn prepares them for a future of choosing the leaders and policies that affect our daily lives.

Source:What would get young people to vote? These teens have some ideas

What would get young people to vote? These teens have some ideas. The News Hour Student Reporting Labs interviewed 300 young people to get the next generation’s take on why it is important to vote.

Source: PBS Learning Media

So, why don’t young people vote as much as older people? Find out in the latest Above the Noise episode.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! 

• What are you doing to promote youth engagement in the 2024 election? 
• Would you add any additional resources or comments that would be valuable to afterschool stakeholders? 

Email us at info@temescalassociates.com.

END NOTES
[i] Youth Voter Movement, About the Movement

[ii] Why Young People Should Vote

Using Art As A Medium To Teach SEL

Source: WINGS for Kids

By Guest Blogger, Cheryl Hollis, Chief Program Officer, WINGS for Kids
This was originally published by WINGS for Kids.

Art has long been recognized as a powerful tool for teaching and learning, not only in terms of creativity and self-expression but also for developing essential social emotional skills. Educators, youth workers, and parents can harness the power of art to help students improve their understanding of emotions, empathy, communication, and problem-solving.

We’ve developed and tested simple yet effective practices in our own programs that you can try with your students when using art as a medium for teaching character skills.

Collaborative Art Projects
A great way to incorporate SEL into class or program time is by organizing collaborative art projects where students work together to create a piece of art. This promotes teamwork, cooperation, and communication skills as students learn to listen to each other’s ideas, compromise, and contribute to a shared vision. 

Involving Local Artists
Know an artist in your community? Invite them to help lead your students in an activity. For instance, a visual artist could lead sessions on mindfulness and self-expression through painting or drawing, teaching children techniques to manage stress and enhance self-awareness. A theater artist could conduct drama workshops focused on empathy and communication, using role-playing exercises to help students understand different perspectives and improve their interpersonal skills. A musician or dancer could facilitate a class on emotional regulation and self-control through rhythm and movement activities, helping children channel their emotions constructively and develop resilience.

Source: WINGS for Kids
Students in WINGS afterschool program create a series of collaborative
artworks lead by local artist Amanda Lamontagne of Charleston, SC.

Exploring Emotions Through Art
Encourage students to express their emotions through various art forms such as painting, drawing, sculpture, or even digital art. Provide them opportunities to express themselves creatively using themes related to emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, fear, or gratitude. This allows students to identify and label their feelings in an imaginative and uniquely non-verbal way.

Source: WINGS for Kids

Emotional Alphabet and Coloring Pages
Need help getting started? Download the Emotional Alphabet Skill Builder to help students expand their emotional vocabulary. Next, try the Share Your Emotions Activity Bundle to help reinforce the Skill Builder. Students will practice identifying, labeling, and sharing their emotions to improve their self-awareness skills.

Art Appreciation
Explore diverse artworks from different cultures, styles, and time periods with students. Encourage discussions about the emotions, themes, and messages conveyed in the art pieces. This fosters empathy, perspective-taking, and appreciation for diverse experiences and perspectives.

Source: WINGS for Kids
WINGS students visit the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA.

Field Trip to the Museum
Maybe you can’t make it to the MOMA, but a field trip to an art or historical museum is a great opportunity to boost social and emotional skills. Museum tours can be structured to include interactive activities such as group discussions about artwork, creative writing exercises inspired by the pieces, and hands-on art projects that encourage self-expression and emotional awareness. Additionally, museum visits provide a stimulating and enriching environment that encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and appreciation for the arts, contributing to the holistic development of students’ social and emotional competencies.

Build Social Awareness and Relationship Skills with Art-Based Role-Playing
Explore role-playing activities where students use art props or drawings to act out scenarios related to social interactions, conflict resolution, or empathy-building. This hands-on approach helps students practice communication skills, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution strategies in a safe and creative environment.

Source: WINGS for Kids

Bring Stories to Life with Puppets
Through puppetry performances and workshops, students can explore complex emotions, develop empathy, and learn effective communication and conflict resolution strategies. Creating puppets provides a hands-on, creative experience that allows students to express themselves and dive into their feelings and perspectives. By incorporating themes such as friendship, empathy, diversity, and resilience into puppetry activities, educators can create engaging and impactful learning experiences that promote social and emotional growth.

Creative Problem-Solving Challenges
Present students with creative problem-solving challenges using art as a tool. For example, ask them to use recycled materials to create a sculpture representing a solution to a social issue or challenge they care about. This activity promotes critical thinking, innovation, and empathy-driven problem-solving skills.

Try These Art-Themed Activities and Games  

• Puppet Creations
• All About Me Poster (parts 1-4)
• Let’s Create Together
• Roll and Doodle
• Story Creator
• Sidewalk Mural

There are so many benefits to incorporating art and creativity into new or existing SEL practices. By doing so, educators, youth workers, and parents can create enriching experiences that support students’ holistic development and equip them with essential life skills for navigating relationships, emotions, and challenges effectively.

Testing AI’s Pluses and Minuses in Afterschool Programming

Source: www.unsplash.com

By Guest Blogger Brian Rinker, Youth Today. This blog was originally published on the Youth Today website.

Angel Toscano

When Angel Toscano asked ChatGPT for 10 Halloween-themed activities related to science, technology, engineering, arts and math — STEAM, for short — that could be done with minimum supplies, the popular artificial intelligence bot instantaneously spat out several ideas: Spider web geometry. Pumpkin catapults. Ghost rockets. 

Searching for those ideas offline “would have taken the whole morning,” Toscano said, of that Halloween project in 2023, when he was a family engagement specialist at Austin Independent School District. 

Making them required string, yard, baking soda, vinegar and other readily available household products that, as Toscano wanted, were budget-friendly and kid-safe.  

One of 180 million worldwide users of that AI program, viewed as a time-saver and problem-solver, Toscano, now a tutoring supervisor for that Texas district, started testing AI ChatGPT by having it craft emails for him. He moved on to developing after-school program curricula and activities. Toscano is one side of an educational divide over the arguable merits and dangers of using ChatGPT and other AI bots to teach. While some applaud AI’s seeming efficiencies and its potential to prepare students to navigate an increasingly more AI-dependent world, others are concerned about whether AI adequately protects private information it gathers about students and students’ potential to, for example, use AI to plagiarize their academic papers.  

As the debate rages, however, some technology-focused leaders of after-school initiatives say AI is making things easier for what often are cash-strapped, short-staffed after-school efforts. A relative handful of tech-forward afterschool programs are beginning to fully embrace AI, integrating activities such as AI-assisted tutoring, creating chatbots and using AI for everything from the arts to robotics. Yet, many families who are interested in such programs are hard-pressed to find ones that are low-cost or free programs. 

“The barriers are significant” for introducing AI into afterschool, said Shawn Petty, a Westat researcher who advises Texas Education Agency’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.

After-school educators find themselves in this unsure area, Petty added. They acknowledge the potential of AI, yet harbor concerns over privacy due to the technology’s capacity to record and store vast amounts of information. Plus, many educators lack the technical know-how to use AI and fear their jobs are at risk.

MANY POORER SCHOOLS HAVE LESS AI ACCESS

The Mark Cuban Foundation has offered after-school AI boot camps for high schoolers in several states since it was founded in 2019, before ChatGPT even existed. 

But free, ongoing programs for elementary school-aged Alabamans are uncommon, said Anh Nguyen, an Auburn University computer science professor. He started a free AI after-school club for elementary students in the 2022-23 school year. 

Nguyen’s on-campus AI club offers weekly hands-on learning for 20 to 30 children from kindergarten to sixth grade who get one-on-one instruction from high school and college student instructors. Kids get the opportunity to code robots to race and navigate mazes. Kids develop their own chatbots. Using robots and iPads, students, incrementally, are ramping up the complexity of activities such as face recognition and training AI to play games by itself. 

Nguyen has made available online the model for his National Science Foundation-funded program, hoping it will inspire similar efforts to launch elsewhere.

UNEQUAL AI ACCESS ALSO MAY STOKE FUTURE JOB DISPARITIES

Westat researcher Petty said schools that lack AI education risk widening disparities between, for example, those with and without the skills to land better-paying tech jobs in the future. 

Just as the Industrial Revolutions of prior centuries reshaped labor and employment, Artificial intelligence likely will alter such white-collar jobs as those in banking, writing and publishing, marketing, coding, customer service and sales, said Eliza Du, CEO of Integem, which runs after-school technology camps in California.

AI already is eliminating certain jobs. Recognizing the need to adjust to the changes AI is unleashing, Du said families are increasingly enrolling their children in her AI summer camps. 

It doesn’t matter which side of the AI debate a person falls on, the technology h is never going to go away, said Du, whose camps enroll students as young as kindergarten.  

“AI is here,” she said, “whether you are scared of it or not.” 

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Brian Rinker is a Pennsylvania-based journalist who covers public health, child welfare, digital health, startups and venture capital.

We recently sponsored a webinar on this topic entitled, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Afterschool Programs. To view the webinar recording, click here.

Learn AI in High School: 7 Reasons To Do So

Source: Inspirit AI

A Guest Blog from Inspirit AI, originally published on the Inspirit AI Blog.

What is Artificial Intelligence (or “AI”) exactly? 

Many people don’t really have a good understanding of what exactly artificial intelligence is, so here’s a quick breakdown. Artificial Intelligence is the process of using machine learning with accurate data analysis to solve a problem. Some might think that AI is just restricted to geeky guys who like numbers and computers, or that AI is figuring out systems and algorithms. 

However, these assumptions are wrong. AI is starting to become the norm of technology, and will also make a giant impact towards the future. 

Why learn AI?

Whether you’re a student or not, and do or do not have an interest in technology, I recommend that you should learn AI for the following reasons:

1. AI is the future of technology and will be incorporated into our everyday lifestyle

You might not think that AI is implicated in your life now, but you are wrong. Most likely, you have a device or machine that is using AI right now without you knowing it! For example, you might have the latest iPhone, which uses face recognition to unlock the phone. This process of scanning and analyzing a user’s face is done through artificial intelligence. 

Likewise, automakers like Tesla incorporate self-driving functions which are based in AI learning algorithms. To no surprise, these functions also use AI in order to observe and learn patterns, and perform specific actions based on what’s happening. Although these AI processes might seem innocuous, these will become the norm in the future. The possibilities of how AI will be utilized are endless, and its impact in the future will be tremendous.

2. Learn AI to combine it with other interests & passions

The usefulness of AI can be applied to any industry, such as the fashion industry and farming industry, among others. How each industry could incorporate AI is endless. 

For example, if you like designing styles for clothes, AI could potentially help. You could use data of popular trends and styles, and then generate new designs based on what patterns and trends the AI learned. By using AI, you essentially are able to come up with new designs for shoes, clothing, and much more. AI is not just restricted to analyzing and creating images, but also predicting outcomes. 

For the farming industry, AI can be used to compute multiple variables such as the crop health, the soil health, or the amount of fertilizer to use. It can help predict what the harvest would be, and also estimate what variables are steady and what variables need to be adjusted. There are so many uses for AI in any field of interest.

Source: www.pexels.com

3. Learning AI leads to many opportunities in college and jobs

With AI having the ability to be useful and versatile in many areas, this creates more opportunities in colleges and jobs. Since AI is becoming more and more important and impactful in industries, jobs surrounding this field are becoming more prevalent. Thus, learning AI in school or college, even if it’s only an interest rather than a career, can be useful for marketing new skills. 

4. Learning AI will stay in your brain longer than the stuff you learn at school

Learning AI is not something you will learn quickly. It requires time to learn the programming language, and then apply it to the problem. The stuff we learn in school, such as the history of ancient civilizations, or how to interpret themes of a book aren’t going to stay in our brain. This is because there is no use for them in your future (unless you become a History or English teacher). 

With AI however, you need to know how it works in order to use it. It’s the same process over and over when you work on a project, so you need to know how AI works and the process behind it. Likewise, with AI becoming more relevant to the future of technology, it means that more people will need to know programming skills.

5. You can learn artificial intelligence to improve your computer science & programming skills

Whether you have little knowledge of programming and computer science, or know multiple languages of code, learning AI also enables you to understand and advance your skills. With technology becoming more and more significant in the years to come, so will the skills of programming and computer science. Thus, programming will be beneficial in your journey through AI. 

In my opinion, I definitely found it more fun to learn how to code and program stuff than learning about the history of ancient civilizations, or writing three-page long essays. You don’t need to know everything about programming and computer science, but at least trying it and even understanding it will help you in the future.

Source: Inspirit AI

6. AI is more than just systems and algorithm–it’s also problem solving and understanding limitations

AI is an intricate system of algorithms, systems, and networks right? Although AI does include those in the making, there are many other variables that need to be taken into consideration. Such variables include problem solving, the design process, and understanding limitations. These variables also take place in the real world. For example, in AI, you need to figure out what the problem exactly is and how you will approach it. 

Let’s say you need an AI to identify emotions and expressions of a user’s face. How exactly will you approach this? This can relate back to how you interpret someone else’s emotion just by looking at them and understanding body language. The design process is another thing that is important not only for AI, but also for creating anything in general. Last but not least, understanding constraints and restrictions of AI are key factors needed to make an AI work. 

Let’s say someone is making an AI to look at a camera feed and images of people driving, and this AI is supposed to detect when a driver is distracted or attentive. Some problems might be the angle of the camera, the lighting, how good the quality of the camera is, and much more. Just like any problem in the real world, there will be limitations, and problems that need to be addressed to come up with a solution. So implementing AI will help improve your design process skills and understanding of problem solving and constraints.

7. You can use AI to make an impact within your community and the public

AI can be very impactful to not only you or a company, but also to the public. Take facial recognition, self driving cars, deep fakes, robotic limbs, or even computer generated pictures of people or objects. All of these had an impact, whether positive or negative, on how we look at technology and advancements. By learning and utilizing AI, you could potentially make an impact in your community, and even be recognized for your creativeness and be an influencer. 

Such influencers consist of Andrew Ng (Head of Google Brain and a Professor at Stanford), Cassie Kozyrkov (Google Cloud’s Chief Decision Scientist) and Vladimir Naumovich Vapnik (main developer of the Vapnik-Chervonenkis Theory of Statistical Learning). All of these influencers have had significant impacts on technology advancements, and so could you!

AI is not limited to only specific people, jobs, or interests. It’s something anyone can utilize and learn, and incorporate into their daily life, hobbies, and career. The variety of uses for AI allow it to be used by anyone in almost any scenario. This is why AI is becoming so significant in technology. AI will be impacting our lives almost every second in the future, so being a part of this new era and even contributing to it will help make our world better. 

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At Inspirit AI, AI Scholars inspires curious high school students globally by exposing them to the defining technology of our times: Artificial Intelligence. AI is already present everywhere: in our voice-activated devices, smartphone face recognition systems, and autonomous vehicles. The potential to apply this technology for good is limitless.

We recently sponsored a webinar on this topic entitled, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Afterschool Programs. To view the webinar recording, click here.