As a new school year kicks off, we at the Network wish you all the best. We hope we can provide you with an abundance of resources and tools to help you throughout.
After School is a place where the magic never stops, and the adventure never ends. Welcome Back!
Below is information from the CT State Department of Education. We will continue to provide resources like this and others as they become available.
- Commissioner’s Summer Math Challenge: Welcome back from a rejuvenating summer break. Even though students were not in traditional classes, math learning continued with the Commissioner’s Summer Math Challenge. The Connecticut Department of Education wants to see the level of engagement with summer learning and hopes to recognize schools or districts with high participation. Please complete the Summer Math School Reporting Form by November 1, 2023. Questions can be directed to Jennifer Michalek.
- PBS SoCal Family Math Toolkit: This is a free online portal of over 360 bilingual resources including workshops slides and guides, printable materials, digital activities, instructional videos, and more for families with children ages 2–5. Family Math equips parents and caregivers with strategies and resources to facilitate meaningful math experiences at home through playful learning and hands-on activities. The Toolkit covers six foundational math topics: counting, shapes, measurement, spatial sense, sorting, and patterns. Join the Family Math movement and learn more about how this toolkit is being implemented in communities across the nation by registering for a webinar on August 30 from 3 to 4.
- ATMNE: Association of Teachers of Mathematics in New England Conference: The Fall 2023 Conference is scheduled for October 12 & 13 in Portland, Maine. The conference is full of amazing speakers and presentations. Check out the full program and register soon. See a full list of distinguished speakers on the website.
- Career Exploration Tools and Resources: Are you looking for high quality resources for all learners to explore careers and build future-ready skills through hands-on career experiences? The Defined PBL ecosystem is the resource. Within this ecosystem, all Connecticut educators have access to Defined Careers.
Defined Careers provides instructional resources that are aligned to career pathways and can be used to support your district’s Portrait of a Graduate and Student Success Planning starting in middle school. The Defined Careers platform allows students in grades K-12 to explore and experience hundreds of careers across all 79 career pathways through engaging, hands-on projects.
To acquaint or reacquaint yourself with the Defined Ecosystem we invite you to watch this video.
Click here to learn how to get started with Defined Careers.
Want professional learning? Save the date: October 18th Defined Careers professional learning opportunity (choose from two in-person half-day sessions: 9:00 – 12:00 and 1:00 – 3:30). Participants will deepen their understanding of how to utilize Defined Careers in the classroom, in advisory, and for career guidance.
- DEEP (Discover Enjoy Explore and Practice) STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Program: This is an extracurricular program designed to excite high school students about careers in STEM. It is a year-long program consisting of five events in which students will have the opportunity to connect with CCSU faculty and students by participating in various academic hands-on activities and events.
Students can be any level from freshman to senior, and we ask that they be recommended by a teacher or counselor. Students should be committed to attending all 4 Saturday workshops (2 in fall, 2 in spring) as well as a weeklong workshop at the end of the school year in June. The Saturday workshops will run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will include breakfast and lunch at no cost to the student. The June workshop will be Monday thru Friday also from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will also include breakfast and lunch. The event dates are as follows:
Check out the Website with more information. Register here. Attached is a flyer that can be distributed at your school. This is a great opportunity for students to see what opportunities exist for them in STEM.
There are 2 topics, STEM and MATH, however, only one application is required.
- NASA TechRise Student Challenge: The NASA TechRise Student Challenge invites 6th-12th grade student teams to submit science and technology experiment ideas to fly on a rocket-powered lander or high-altitude balloon. Students attending U.S. public, private, or charter schools – including those in U.S. territories – are challenged to team up with their schoolmates to design an experiment under the guidance of an educator. A total of 60 winning teams will be selected and awarded $1,500 to build their experiment, an assigned spot on a rocket-powered lander or high-altitude balloon flight, and technical support from Future Engineers. The challenge offers participants hands-on insight into the payload design and flight test process, with the goal of inspiring a deeper understanding of space exploration, Earth observation, coding, electronics, and the value of test data. This is a wonderful way to get hands-on with a NASA project this school year, and we encourage teams of all skill levels to apply. Read more in the press release HERE and view the NASA TechRise Outreach Kit HERE.
Important Event Dates: - Aug. 31st: Virtual Educator Workshop #1 RSVP HERE
- September 14th: Virtual Educator Workshop #2 RSVP HERE
- September 29th: Virtual Student Field Trip RSVP HERE
* October 20th: NASA TechRise Proposal Entries Due *