South Bronx Gets "Green"
Kids from South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) after-school program at IS 216/217 in the Bronx participated in a Greening the Community club, conducted by Salvadori Center. The kids created a Green Community model demonstrating alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energy. They presented the model to community members during SoBRO's Get Green: South Bronx Earth Day Festival on April 19.

Pictured left to right: Jasmine Delgado, Kimberly Clark and Stephanie Vargas

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.

In partnership with the New York City Departments of Education and Youth and Community Development, TASC has announced that 13 city schools have been chosen to take the next step toward expanding their learning day or year. Through the Expanded Learning Time/New York City pilot project, students will gain an additional 30 percent of learning time and exposure to enrichments such as arts, fitness and service-learning.

To learn more, visit the TASC Web site.

New York City
The New York City Council and the Office of the Mayor continue to negotiate next year's City budget. TASC is asking families and after-school supporters to let their council members know they support restoring funds for daily TASC after-school programs in 42 city schools. To find out how, visit TASC Take Action.

TASC has joined the New York City Youth Alliance in asking the City to hold the line against reducing vital services to kids and families. These include summer jobs for teens, Beacon after-school programs and shelter beds for homeless young people. To learn more, visit the TASC Web site.

Federal
During two days in May, after-school advocates from across the country urged members of Congress to reject the president's call for a $300 million cut in funds for 21CCLC after-school programs. The advocates joined the Afterschool for All Challenge, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance. To learn more about the challenge, please visit the Afterschool Alliance Web site.

Technical Assistance Request for Proposals
Deadline: June 11
The NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) is seeking qualified vendors to provide technical assistance to DYCD contractors providing services in the following areas: after-school programs, family-focused programs, youth workforce development programs, programs for youth with special needs and discretionary programs. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Mentoring, Educational and Employment Strategies to Improve Academic, Social, and Career Pathway Outcomes Grants
Deadline: June 11
The US Employment and Training Administration announced the availability of funds to serve high schools that have been designated as persistently dangerous by state educational agencies. The goal of these grants is to reduce violence through a combination of mentoring, educational, employment, case management and violence prevention strategies. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Improving the Quality of Health Grant
Deadline: June 15
The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust supports programs that serve children with disabilities under the age of 21 and healthcare organizations that are dedicated to improving the quality of health and well-being of the uninsured. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Rediscover Your Heart Awards
Deadline: June 15
Ten Rediscover Your Heart Awards are being offered to individuals or groups in New York City with creative, innovative, heartfelt projects. Projects should be empowering and replicable, and contribute towards a more functional and peaceful society by improving the community or lives of people living in it. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

The Milton Fisher Scholarship for Innovation and Creativity
Deadline: June 18
The scholarship welcomes applications in 2008 from New York City students who have solved artistic, scientific, or technical problems in new or unusual ways, or who have come up with distinctive solutions to problems faced by their schools, communities, or families. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

Environmental Justice Small Grants Program
Deadline: June 30
The EJSG Program is designed to assist recipients in building collaborative partnerships that will help them understand and address the environmental and/or public health issues in their communities. Successful collaborative partnerships with other stakeholders involve well-designed strategic plans to build, maintain and sustain the partnerships. For more information, visit the Youth Funders Database.

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

The Evaluation Exchange: Spring 2008 Issue
This Harvard Family Research Project periodical examines the current state of, and future directions for the family involvement field in research, policy, and practice. Featuring innovative initiatives, new evaluation approaches and interviews with field leaders, the issue is designed to spark conversation about where the field is and where it needs to go. For more information and to download the full publication, visit the HFRP Web site.

Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens
A new publication from Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), with support from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, examines recruitment strategies that attract young people to activities, the qualities that make activities engaging and motivate participants to attend regularly, and the infrastructure needed to support such activities. For more information and to download the full report, visit the P/PV Web site.

Family and Neighborhood Risks: How They Relate to Involvement in Out-of-School Time Activities
A recent Child Trends report finds that the vast majority of children in low-risk families are involved in at least one out-of-school time activity, compared with 10 percent in medium-risk and 18 percent in high-risk neighborhoods. An increasing number of studies find that participation in an out-of-school time programs is related to better outcomes for children; however most of this research examines family risks and neighborhood risks separately. For more information and to download the fact sheet, visit the Child Trends Web site.

Safe Start: Promising Approaches Communities: Working Together to Help Children Exposed to Violence
A new publication from the Safe Start Center outlines how to prevent and reduce the negative consequences of children's exposure to violence, and how to create conditions that enhance the well-being of all children and adolescents through preventive interventions. This report presents intervention case studies and promising models. For more information and to download the booklet, visit the Safe Start Center Web site.

The FunWorks - Digital Library for STEM Career Exploration
The FunWorks is one of the resources highlighted in the newly launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the US Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL. This resource gives young people the opportunity to pursue their interests and make meaningful connections to careers in the STEM fields. For more information, visit the SEDL Web site.

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

Summer Group Leaders & Assistant Leaders
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

Camp Aquatics Director/Lifeguard
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

Summer Jobs Program Field Specialists
Location: New York, NY
The After-School Corporation (TASC)

Assistant Director of After-School Programs
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service

After-School Group Leader
Location: Queens, NY
South Asian Youth Action

Senior Program Manager
Location: Queens, NY
Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation

After-School Teacher
Location: New York, NY
Community League of the Heights

After-School Program Director
Location: Paterson, NJ
New Jersey Community Development Corporation

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

Where Do Baby Plants Come From?

Sarah Ward is the Environmental Educator for The Horticultural Society of New York. This easy plant propagation lesson - complete with take-home gifts - is a hit with budding scientists, she said.

You will need a small pot for every child, potting soil, powdered rooting hormone and plants that can be propagated through different methods. These could include English ivy for division, philodendron for pinching stems or jade plants for pinching leaves.

Here is Sarah's lesson plan:

1. Begin by explaining that new plants don't have to start from seeds. They can also reproduce through division, or by rooting leaves or stems in soil.
2. Distribute host plants to three groups of kids. The first group, using their hands, can dig out, divide and replant ivy. The others can pinch their leaves or stems, dip them in rooting powder and plant them in soil.
3. Discuss which ones might grow soonest - the plants with roots, the leaves that must grow stems and roots, or the stems that must grow roots only?
4. Send each child home with a plant, care instructions, and encouragement to keep reproducing their plants as gifts.