Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week And More Your April VPOST News!

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Subject: Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week And More Your April VPOST News!

In the wake of the mass shootings in our neighboring states Tennessee and Kentucky, VPOST and the out-of-school time field grieves for the tragic loss of life. Once again, many people have been asking what policies and laws can be enacted to help prevent such tragedies and other forms of youth gun violence from occurring. With such a significant toll on our youth, we encourage you to become active in supporting change that will make safer environments for children and the staff that work with them.

Often these tragedies can bring a sense of helplessness. We wanted to draw attention to "one thing you can do". Virginia is one of 19 states that has a law in place that allows people to work with law enforcement to request a substantial risk order to temporarily remove guns from situations where someone they are close to is showing warning signs that they might try to harm themselves or others. Yet many people working with youth are not aware of the law and may not understand how to use it effectively. This Virginia fact sheet walks through the who, what, where, when, and whys of substantial risk orders in Virginia.

We're Hiring! Join the VPOST Team!

Title:

Community-Based Organizations Program Manager

About the position:
The CBO Program Manager (“the Manager”) is a part-time temporary contract position averaging 15-20 hours weekly, serving as a liaison to community-based organizations throughout the Commonwealth that serve youth in out-of-school time settings. Supporting the larger mission of VPOST as a “friend of the field”, the Manager will work to ensure greater accessibility to funding opportunities and professional development for leadership and staff of local programs.

Read the Full Description Here

Calling all Young Entrepreneurs!

Virginia YES Pitch Challenge is a contest for students in Virginia in grades 6-12, participating in out-of-school programs.

This contest helps kids learn and engage in creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and presentation skills.

Learn more

Think of a business idea. It can be a product, service, social enterprise, or technology business.
Enter as an individual or team of up to 4 by creating a video of your team pitching the business idea.
Keep the camera focused on you for most of the video. We want to see and hear you pitching your idea. We don’t want to see a commercial.
Keep your video short, 30-90 seconds is the time frame.
Entries will be judged on the CREATIVITY of the idea, business name, and video; the PERSUASIVENESS of the elevator pitch; and the OVERALL QUALITY of the idea, pitch, and video.
Complete your video and submit it to your teacher/ program leader before the deadline of May 15th, 2023.
Judging will be done by an independent panel of judges.
Three (3) winners will receive a $100 dollar incentive! Winners will be announced and contacted by May 31st, 2023.

New Childcare Licensure Guide Released!

VPOST has developed a guide to simplify and provide complementing resources to the Standards for Virginia Child Day Programs. A Guide to the Virginia Childcare Licensure Process for School-Aged Afterschool Programs gives a user-friendly overview of enrolling and participating in the licensure program and highlights the information most applicable to school-aged, out-of-school time programs reducing the need to sift through less relevant early childhood requirements.

Get the Guide

VPOST is celebrating Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week, April 24-28, to recognize, appreciate and advocate for those who work with young people during out-of-school hours.

Join us by sharing your shoutout of a colleague or afterschool professional in your life here and we will feature them in our communications!

Here are some other ideas on how you to show your appreciation:

o Use the hashtag #HeartOfAfterschool to declare the difference Afterschool professionals make in the lives of young people.

o Give a hand-written card from you and/or your child to the afterschool professionals you know.

o Send an email to an afterschool professional's supervisor describing why that person is appreciated.

o Make healthy or non-food treats for the staff at your afterschool program.

For more resources and information, check out www.heartofafterschool.com.

Share your Shoutout!

May 8-12th is Rev your Bev Week!

Early Childhood Educators, register now for FREE CLASSROOM MATERIALS about water here. Classroom toolkits include lessons and materials that promote water drinking and water exploration in age-appropriate ways.

As you know, sugar-sweetened beverages remain a key contributor to childhood overweight and obesity. Early care programs can make a difference by serving only healthy beverages and teaching children all about water – even our littlest learners benefit from healthy habits early! VPOST has been proud to support Virginia’s Rev Your Bev statewide campaign promoting healthy beverage habits to children, families, and staff.

PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) and Mizzen have teamed up to create a 16-lesson module that focuses on supporting youth in finding their voice and learning to amplify it. PBS SRL is a project-based learning program focused on video storytelling, community journalism, and civic engagement. Don't miss this robust, no-cost program and more in Mizzen, the afterschool app made by and for the afterschool community!

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Subject: Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week And More Your April VPOST News!