London's Royal Academy of Music String Mentors Visit PS/MS 218 After-School Program
Jennifer and Angela Chun, award-winning concert violinists, recently brought a 14-year old Julliard student to perform for and speak to a class of after-school violinists at WHEDCO's PS/MS 218 program. The sister duo performed, offered kids pointers on technique and heard them play a few pieces. To learn more about the Chun sisters, please visit angela-jenniferchun.com.

[Pictured Angela Chun and student violinist]

ABOUT TASC

The After-School Corporation (TASC) is a nonprofit organization established through a challenge grant from the Open Society Institute in 1998. Its mission is to enhance the quality, availability and sustainability of after-school programs in New York City and beyond, with the goal of making after school a public responsibility. TASC funds, monitors, evaluates and supports after-school programs in New York City. It works with local and national partners to build high quality, sustainable after-school systems in New York and beyond.

The New York City Council will shortly begin negotiations on the city budget for the upcoming year. This year the Council supported 42 TASC daily, comprehensive after-school programs that serve nearly 6,500 kids in New York City public schools. To sustain programs in those schools, and to potentially expand to serve kids and families in other schools that have no comprehensive daily programs, TASC is asking families and others to communicate their support to their Council members.

Find out how on the TASC Web site.

New York State
The New York State budget, completed last week, includes a new $9.8 million in funding for after-school by the State Department of Education (SED). In analyzing the budget, TASC concludes that combined funding for after-school from all state agencies and funding streams roughly holds steady with last year. TASC thanks the new governor, David Paterson, and state legislators for their commitment to investing in high-quality after-school programs in a difficult fiscal year. For more information, visit the TASC Web site.

Special Education Community Parent Resource Centers
Deadline: April 18
The US Department of Education is providing funds to support community parent resource centers in targeted communities. Centers will provide underserved parents of children with disabilities with training and information to help kids meet developmental and functional goals and academic achievement goals that have been established for all children; and to lead productive, independent adult lives to the maximum extent possible. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Good Decision Service Learning Grants
Deadline: May 1
State Farm, in partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is accepting applications for its Good Decisions grant program to support service-learning projects on one of these topics: underage alcohol use prevention or vehicle safety. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Learn and Serve America Higher Education College Student Social Media Initiative
Deadline: May 7
The Corporation for National and Community Service is providing funds to support better engagement of college students in service through social media. Successful applicants must demonstrate how their program can use these tools to engage increased numbers of college students, especially in partnership with other nonprofit or for-profit entities. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Migrant Education Outreach Program
Deadline: May 9
The NY State Education Department is providing federal NCLB, Title I, Part C funds to assist in improving educational opportunities for migrant children and their families to help them succeed in the regular school program, attain grade-level proficiency, and meet the challenging content and student performance standards that all children are expected to master. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Health and Human Services Grants
Deadline: Rolling
The 3M Foundation is accepting applications for its Health and Human Services Grants program to support projects building and sustaining healthy communities and increasing resiliency in youth through prevention efforts from early childhood to 12th grade. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

For the most up-to-date funding opportunities, be sure to visit the Youth Funders Database.

After-School Programs and Academics: Implications for Policy, Practice, and Research
A new report from the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), written by Robert C. Granger, EdD, identifies promising approaches to program improvement and argues that research on ways to intervene to improve program effectiveness is of the highest priority. For more information and to download the full report, visit the SRCD Web site.

Developing Spaces by and for Teens in Out-of-School Time Programs
A new publication from BOSTnet analyzes how the environment of a program can affect the types of activities that can occur, but also who can access these activities, what information it gives about the program, and how children and youth interact with their environment. The report highlights the importance of teen voice in developing spaces for teens. For more information and to download excerpts from the report, visit the BOSTnet Web site.

Gaining a Voice After School: Why After-School Programs Are a Powerful Resource for English-Language Learners
Claudia Weisburd of the Center for Afterschool & Community Education (CACE) recently wrote an article for Education Week that explains why and how after-school can support English language learners and learning. As schools and districts across the country strive to meet the needs of their increasingly language-diverse populations, after-school can serve as a valuable partner. To read the full article, visit the CACE Web site.

Financing and Sustaining Out-of-School Time Programs in Rural Communities
A recent resource brief from the Finance Project focuses on funding resources and strategies for rural out-of-school time programs. The publication identifies challenges related to financing and sustaining out-of-school time programs in rural communities and highlights successful program examples. For more information and to download the full brief, visit the Finance Project Web site.

Using Storyboards: A YouthLearn Guide to Thinking through Visual Storytelling
A new resource from YouthLearn demonstrates how a storyboard is simply a planning device used to visually "sketch out" the actions of a story that will be told in a visual medium like animation, multimedia, a Web page or video. To learn how to introduce basic storytelling concepts with sample activities, visit the YouthLearn Web site.

For more resources, be sure to visit the TASC Document Library.

Youth Employment Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

Interim Teen ACTION Program Officer
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

Program Assistant, Policy & Program Development
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

After-School Program Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Our Lady of Lourdes School

Out-of-School Time Site Coordinator
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility

Site Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Urban Dove

Assistant Site Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Urban Dove

Program & Lead Coordinator
Location: Bronx, NY
Building with Books

Have a job to advertise in our eNewsletter? Email info@tascorp.org. Please visit the TASC website for all of our current job opportunities.

Engaging Parents and Family with End-of-Year Events

Many after-school programs plan a celebratory "culminating event" near the end of the school year. It may be a live performance or an art or health fair to celebrate kids' mastery of new skills and knowledge. It's a great time to invite parents and other caregivers to share in their kids' accomplishments.

These are also prime opportunities for programs to identify family members who might want to get more involved in volunteering, or speaking out about after-school's importance for their families. Here are ways to increase contact with these families:

• Send flyer-style invitations to parents and ask them to RSVP with a tear-off form that lists name, address, phone, email and relationship to student. The response form can also include check-off boxes for volunteering or joining in outreach to elected officials.
• Organize a drawing for a small prize at the event. Include space on the ballot for contact information.
• Have greeters at the door, and ask visitors to sign in with contact information.

In order to sustain public funding, it's essential for programs, community-based organizations and TASC to be able to organize parents to communicate their need and support for after-school to elected leaders.

For information on engaging parents, or to share what your site is doing, please contact Nydia Portilla, TASC Community Relations Coordinator, at (646) 943-8734 or nportilla@tascorp.org.