Youth Development Executives of King County
Working to advance the youth development field |
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Greetings YDEKC Members and Friends –
We are finishing the year extremely grateful for all of the ways YOU as our members, colleagues, and friends have stood up against institutional and structural racism and in the face of political threats to ensure that young people can thrive in our communities, regardless of race or status. We look forward to entering the new year with an even stronger staff team to support our work together. Mona Grife has joined the YDEKC team as our new Social Emotional Learning Strategy lead. Mona is passionate about building collaborative partnerships and finding creative ways to align efforts to achieve ambitious outcomes. In the new year, we’ll be reaching out to build deeper partnerships in the Road Map region to deepen our work to create socially and emotionally rich learning environments across the school day and after school hours.
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In service and gratitude,
Jessica
Executive Director, Youth Development Executives of King County
ydekc.org | jwerner@ydekc.org | 206.336.6912 |
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Cross Sector Convening: We convene and participate in cross-sector collaborations to improve the alignment of efforts supporting children and youth in King County.
Best Starts for Kids Quality Out-of-School Time investments announced!
King County’s Best Starts for Kids and School’s Out Washington are partnering on the implementation of the Quality Out-of-School Time strategy. This strategy funds organizations working to provide access to consistent, high quality and culturally relevant summer and afterschool programming to underserved communities and geographies. These new investments will help to lay the groundwork for a stronger expanded learning opportunity system in King County. Congratulations to many YDEKC members who will be better able to fulfill your missions with this new funding source!
YDEKC’s Partnership Ecosystem Toolkit
A critical part of developing a strong partnership is clarifying roles and responsibilities and identifying how you are going to make decisions within a partnership. In a healthy and integrated partnership ecosystem, partners and school leaders discuss the appropriate level and frequency of involvement in shared decision making, provide regular feedback to one another, and alternate leadership roles in a cross-agency leadership body. How have you defined the roles and responsibilities within your partnership(s)? Use the Partnership Charter Planning Tool to set expectations and encourage accountability or, for a more formal agreement, apply the Tip Sheet for Developing a Memorandum of Understanding. Click here to access more tools from the School Community Partnership Toolkit and contact Anne Powell Arias at aarias@ydekc.org if you would like to bring an introductory workshop to your team.
National Council Reaches Scientific Consensus on How People Learn
The National Social Emotional Academic Development (SEAD) Commision’s 28-member Council of Distinguished Scientists (CDS) recently released The Evidence Base for How We Learn: Supporting Students’ Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. The research brief draws from the fields of neuroscience, education research, medicine, economics, and psychology to articulate a scientific consensus regarding how people learn. The report affirms that social, emotional, and academic development are interconnected and central to the learning process, advancing the field beyond debate about whether schools should address these dimensions of learning to a focus on how schools can effectively integrate them into their daily work.
Washington’s Social Emotional Learning Online Education Module from OSPI
OSPI recently released their SEL Online Education Module: Building Foundations and Strategies, a free online course for people who work with children statewide. Register and log in here! In 2017, the Washington State Legislature charged OSPI with continuing the work of the 2015 Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks Workgroup to develop detailed, culturally relevant grade level SEL indicators for the existing Benchmarks, solicit feedback from statewide stakeholders, and develop a model of best practices for implementation of grade level SEL indicators. The report will be completed by June 30, 2019. For more information on OSPI’s SEL work, contact Ron Hertel, Social and Emotional Learning Program Supervisor. |
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Advocacy: We advocate for policy changes that address youth development field needs and issues impacting King County youth.
Nonprofit Lobbying and Advocacy 101, January 3rd
Webinar, 10:00AM-11:00AM, 1/3/2018
Lobbying is not only legal – it’s one of the most effective means for nonprofits to advance our missions! Whether influencing our state’s budget, or advance policies to support children and youth, there are many reasons that 501(c)(3) public charities choose to lobby to achieve their policy goals. This comprehensive workshop will help explain what lobbying is and why it is so important. Click here to learn more and register. School’s Out Washington and YDEKC invite you to join experts from the national Alliance for Justice and learn more.
Expanded Learning Takes Olympia! January 9th
State Capitol Building Columbia Room, Olympia, WA, 10:00AM-2:00PM, 1/9/2018
2018 promises to be a big year for expanded learning opportunities and increasing access to quality programs for more children and youth. Join School’s Out Washington in Olympia as they bring together Expanded Learning Opportunities professionals from around the state for conversations with lawmakers to share the critical role the expanded learning field plays for young people and families. Register here! Contact David Beard at dbeard@schoolsoutwashington.org for more information.
Youth Advocacy Day, January 26th
The United Churches of Olympia, 110 11th Ave SE, Olympia, WA, 8:00AM-2:00PM, 1/26/2018
Join over 300 youth, families and allies in Olympia each year to advocate for reforms to the child welfare system and to systems affecting youth experiencing homelessness. With a youth-inspired legislative agenda and our signature orange scarves, you can unite with our youth advocates and meet elected officials to make a difference for your community. The day includes inspiring speeches by youth, policymakers and fellow advocates. At the end of the day, join the rally on the Capitol steps and march around the grounds to help break down perceptions that stand in the way of every youth and young adult having a safe and stable home.
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Field Building: We build tools, disseminate effective practices, and foster skills that support leadership, racial equity, and organizational development.
School’s Out Washington Winter Symposium, December 19th (NEXT WEEK!)
Shoreline Conference Center, 9:00AM-4:00PM, 12/19/2017
The Winter Symposium is a day of learning for professionals working for expanded learning opportunities (ELOs). Learn more about and register for the offered workshops here! STARS credit and a limited amount of STARS scholarships are available.
YDEKC’s Upcoming Measurement Toolkit Training: Creating a Lean and Mean Evaluation Plan, January 9th
Why not start off the new year with a new or newly streamlined evaluation plan? Part 2 of YDEKC’s Measurement Toolkit Training Series will be held on January 9th from 9:30-11:30. This workshop will focus on organizing evaluation activities to align to high-priority evaluation questions. For more information or to register, please visit our website.
Start With Us: Black Youth in South King County & South Seattle
Check out the latest report from the Road Map Project! Much attention is given to the need for improving educational outcomes for Black students, but rarely does research start by talking to students themselves. Start With Us: Black Youth in South King County & South Seattle is driven by what Black high schoolers in South King County and South Seattle say they need from the education system serving them. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to incorporate youth voice, this report does not look at traditional measures such as graduation rates or test scores, but the systemic issues that affect the educational experience for Black youth.
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Funding & Training Opportunities
Best Starts for Kids Communities for Opportunity Community Partnerships: Place-Based and Cultural Communities RFP is open! Applications are due January 11th!
Communities of Opportunity (COO) is now accepting proposals for community partnerships to create change that will contribute to greater health and well-being. This RFP will invest in partnerships that focus on geographic/place-based communities and cultural communities. Social, economic and racial equity and social justice is foundational to the work of COO. For many in our region, King County is a great place to live, learn, work and play. Yet we have deep and persistent inequities, especially by race and place that in many cases are getting worse and threaten our collective prosperity. Investments under this RFP will address these inequities. For more information, visit the Best Starts blog here! |
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Thank you for continuing to work together to advance the youth development field. We hope to collaborate with you in 2018 to continue to advance the youth development field and help young people thrive!
The YDEKC Team
Jessica, Mona, Sarah, Rene, Anne & Eddie
Copyright © 2017 Youth Development Executives of King County, All rights reserved.
Youth Development Executives of King County (YDEKC) is a coalition of youth-serving organizations working together to improve outcomes for young people.
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