2015 Alaska Afterschool Conference
Workshop Descriptions
(Workshop listing is subject to change)
Program Advocacy – We all do it! - Julie Wild-Curry and Billy Smith, Fairbanks North Star Borough
School District
Program Advocacy is a key ingredient for sustainability of your program. In this workshop you will learn
how to share your program stories, data and best practices. You will leave with a framework to actively
advocate for your program and involve others in the process!
Summer Program Planning and Themes – Courtney Havrilek and Marilyn Eggleston, Fairbanks North
Star Borough School District
This session will provide strategies for planning a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math
(STEAM) focus summer program with a camp-like vibe. Session will also cover ideas for creating ageappropriate, inquiry-based lessons and projects that will keep students engaged and help avert summer
brain drain. Your summer staff and students will love a summer program full of hot STEAM!!
Fun with Literacy – Lea Hood and Ann McBeth, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District 21st CCLC
Supporting students’ growth in reading and writing can be challenging with limited time and mixed student
skill levels. This session will offer fun, practical and effective ways to ramp up your afterschool program’s
literacy component. 1st – 4th grade focus.
Mother Earth Art – Jim Gilbert, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Joy Elementary
Apply artistic awareness to background/mid-ground/foreground, emphasis, proportion/scale, balance, and
primary/secondary colors with attention to light/shadow and realistic details while creating the night sky,
Northern Lights, and Birch/Aspen trees using torn masking tape, oil pastels, and construction paper.
Fair warning: This activity is both messy and addicting
Intentional Family Engagement – Billy Smith, Lea Hood and Marilyn Eggleston, Fairbanks North Star
Borough School District
This session will provide tips on planning high quality family nights, identify barriers that might prevent
families from participating in school events, and explore strategies and methods to encourage parents
to truly feel welcomed and valued at their child’s school. Session will also include a few hands-on
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) activities that can be used during family
nights.
Engineering in Elementary (EiE) – Cherry Eckland and Pamela Garcia, Juneau School District
This presentation focuses on how to level the playing field by engaging students in engineering design
challenges! EiE units mix creativity with math and science through hands-on activities. Workshop
participants will complete a design challenge and walk away with an overview of the EiE unit structure.
Tips on how to make these engineering units work in an afterschool or summer program will be shared.
CPR for Math! – Pam Garcia and Cherry Eckland, Juneau School District
Let’s rescue our drowning math students by strengthening the most common areas of weakness:
computation, problem-solving, and seasoning. We will teach specific strategies for mastering basic math
facts, breaking down word-problem barriers, and creating warm-ups that promote reasoning skills.
Participants will be actively engaged in many math activities they can use after school to provide CPR for
Math!
Old Games with a New Twist: Active games for inspired learning! – Nate Heck, Glacier Valley
Elementary/L.E.A.P.
A semi-open-space workshop to learn, play, and share ‘New Games’ with other activity leaders. New
Games are designed to set boundaries, get to know each other, teach cooperation, and teamwork. This
workshop will be ‘hands-on’ and you will be playing the games as an active participant. New Games are
great time-fillers, used to refocus student behaviors, and can be used to compliment the subject matter
of classroom and enrichment curriculum.
Ramps & Pathways: Physical Science Explorations for Young Children – Jennifer S Thompson,
Harborview Elementary
This session will emphasize physical science investigations that young children can make using simple
materials and space to move and interact with inclined planes. Participants will have opportunities to
“mess about” with the ramps and marbles, exploring the big ideas of force and motion. Small teams will
have time to work together to experience ramps and marbles to better understand the opportunities
their students will have for learning.
EPIC Virtual Experiences – Kat Souser, Janice Hadley, Corey Shepherd and Julie Staley, June Nelson
Elementary School/SERRC
Imagine being able to take your afterschool students to the Alaska Zoo to get a behind-the-scenes look
at the resident polar bears or having a published children’s author visit with your students. Would you
like to take your afterschool students on an interactive tour to a museum or discover what it is like to be
a Forest Ranger? You can do all of this and more for little to no cost! Join us as we share virtual
experiences and apps sure to spark an interest and curiosity for learning.
Facilitated Secondary Program Discussion – Tammy Dodd, Bering Strait School District
Open discussion on Secondary Programs within the 21st CCLC program. Participants will be divided into
small groups and rotate among discussion topics pertinent to engaging secondary students in the after
school program.
Discovery Science – Margaret Galanin and Sue Conrad, Sitka School District/Sitka Sound Science Center
Curious? Do you wonder how and why? Discovery Science captures children’s natural ability to explore, ask
questions, discover, compare, and learn. Participate in different science stations demonstrating “inquiry” as
a powerful learning tool. Ideas and resources for replicating these types of activities will be provided.
Walking/Running Program – Shanette Wik and Savannah Griffel, Boys and Girls Club of the Kenai Peninsula
This workshop will provide program staff with the tools needed to implement a successful Walking/Running
program that students will love during all seasons! Participants will come away with sample materials and a
wellness curriculum to start integrating this program into their summer and afterschool time.
What is Digital Art? – Jenny Bachelder, Wasilla Middle School
This hands-on workshop will introduce attendees to the wonderful world of digital art. Two digital art
projects will be introduced along with step-by-step directions. Participants will compete in a challenge
using 3-D printing pen technology. Also, several web-based digital art resources will be shared. By the
end of the session, attendees will be better prepared to incorporate digital projects into their
classrooms or after-school programs. Participants are encouraged to bring a smart phone or other
electronic device.
Igniting Engagement with Social and Emotional Learning – Heather Coulehan, Association of Alaska
School Boards
Research indicates that social and emotional learning (SEL) can improve academic performance, motivation
to learn, commitment to school, and behavior – the exact outcomes we all want for the kids in our
programs. But what exactly is SEL? And how can SEL be part of after school programs? This workshop
offers ideas and questions that out of school time providers can use to start the conversation about SEL
with staff, kids, and parents.
Taking Math to the eXTreme!! – Marie Clyde and Julie Schreiner, Ptarmigan Elementary School 21st
CLCC
Learn the basics of eXtreme Math Games, exciting and educational for students of many levels. eXtreme
Math Games can be played with virtually any mathematical concept. We will practice the basic facts and
sharpening the math skills. eXtreme Math games are teaching strategies that include all students in the
class. This creates a fun learning environment for student’s using games.
Learning about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and becoming a Trauma Sensitive School Site –
Diane Demoski and Patrick Sidmore, Burchell High School and the State of Alaska.
Learn about Adverse Childhood Experienes (ACES) and protective factors. See the latest data and learn
how to build resilience to protect from ACES. Learn what it means to be a Trauma Sensitive School and gain
resources for you to create a safe and supportive environment for your students.
Grit and Growth Mindset – Lorrie Heagy, Glacier Valley Elementary School/Juneau Alaska Music Matters
(JAMM)
This practical workshop provides participants tools and language to help develop in students a growth
mindset. Research has identified four positive academic mindsets that increase students’ academic
behaviors and perseverance: belonging, self-efficacy, purpose, and growth-mindset. According to
Farrington (2013), “Students with positive academic mindsets work harder, engage in more productive
academic behaviors, and persevere to overcome obstacles.” This workshop will look at ways in which to
promote seven highly predictive strengths that link to academic achievement: grit, zest, self-control,
gratitude, optimism, social intelligence, and curiosity.
Reframing Conflict – Thomas Azzarella, Alaska Afterschool Network
For many of us, conflict is scary, intimidating, and avoided at all cost. Ease conflict in your program by
incorporating a step-by-step conflict resolution model that focuses on teaching youth how to re-frame
conflict into a learning experience, while supporting social-emotional growth.
Building Positive, Purposeful Interactions: Ask-Listen-Encourage – Thomas Azzarella, Alaska Afterschool
Network
At the foundation of every great afterschool program is a caring adult mentor’s engagement with youth.
This training provides techniques and strategies for creating intentional relationships with youth
through the researched based method Ask-Listen-Encourage. Participants will learn the characteristics
of effective questions and how to give positive responses to encourage youth success to achieve greater
youth outcomes in your program.
Integrating Planning and Reflection in Programing – Thomas Azzarella, Alaska Afterschool network
When we intentionally integrate planning and reflection in our programs, we increase students’ ability
to achieve their dreams in life. This workshop will provide a toolbox of strategies to best incorporate
planning and reflection into your afterschool program.
Leading to Learn: Learning to Lead! – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice Child Care Services
How can you develop a motivated, enthusiastic, high performing staff team with a high level of
commitment? Attend this event! Often times, people who work well with children become leaders and
administrators of the program. The purpose of this session is to help those leaders be more effective at
leading adults. Explore the complex systems of afterschool leadership, leaderly learning, and learn how
to develop vision, and a culture of innovation, empowerment and teamwork. By understanding the
complexity of the systems we work in, and confronting some of the prevailing mental models of
leadership, you will discover powerful, yet simple ways to influence people, create meaningful change,
and lead with a purpose. Learn practical strategies to improve hiring and “onboarding” systems. Learn
how to create dialog, how to learn the most from mistakes, and how to design a workplace that is safe
for thinking and innovation. Learn the secret art of leading with love, servant leadership and creating a
learning organization. Good leaders are always learning. They learn to lead, and they lead to learn.
7 Smart Social Skills: Making Friends, Learning Together, Getting Along! – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice
Child Care Services
How can you build a stronger sense of belonging and community in your afterschool program? Attend
this event! We reveal all our favorite strategies for teaching essential social skills such as confidence,
control, coping, curiosity, communication, conflict resolution, and community building. This event is
packed with oodles of useful techniques to teach social skills through purposeful, practical and powerful
programming!
Super Tools: Behavior Management for Super Afterschool Programs – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice
Child Care Services
Have you ever experienced a behavior problem with a child in your program? Of course you have, we all
have? Would you like some powerful and practical brain-based discipline tools to help you get the kind
of behaviors that make you love working with kids? Attend this event and discover how to create
superior interiors and tremendous agendas that promote desirable behavior. Learn strategies for
preventing undesirable behavior. Learn techniques to use once misbehavior has occurred: positive
discipline, logical consequences, reparations, restitution and self-esteem. Learn many tools that are
guaranteed to make guidance and building self-discipline easier and make working with school-age kids
more enjoyable!
Lovin’ Learnin’: Sneakin’ in the Standards! – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice Child Care Services
Do you want lots of fun and engaging activities that focus on academics? Do you want children to learn
without losing the playful, engaging, characteristics that make afterschool such an enjoyable part of
childhood? Don’t miss this event. You don’t have to choose between fun and academics. When
learning is active, engaging, hands-on, novel, relevant, and playful… learning is a whole lot of fun! We
can stay true to the playful nature and positive relationships that make afterschool special AND
significantly enhance academic achievement. Learn how to create programs that are playful, appealing,
unique, interactive, AND are intentionally designed to “SNEAK IN” specific academic standards and
simultaneously help kids develop a love of learning to last a lifetime.
Train the Trainers: Brain Smart Training! – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice Child Care Services
In this unique “Train-the-Trainers” session, beginning and expert trainers and teachers get front-of-theroom skills in a brain-compatible learning context. By learning powerful cutting edge skills and simple
teaching strategies trainers will build self-confidence and feel stress disappear. Learn all our secrets!
Learn how to reach the reluctant learner and how to increase learner participation. Learn how to
involve learners in the process and keep them engaged. Learn how to get productive responses from
learners and how to increase buy in and participation. Learn the art and genius of timing in learning
activities. Learn which music to use and how. Learn energizers and icebreakers that work. Learn how
to give flawless directions that learners understand every time. This highly practical training is designed
with the “brain in mind.”
9 Steps of Creating a Culture of Caring – Ashcrafts, Children’s Choice Child Care Services
Learn the secret strategies we used to be named the #1 Top Workplace in New Mexico. In this session,
we will share the successful systems and powerful practices we use to create an organizational culture
of caring, collaboration, and commitment. Learn how to get the right people with the right stuff to work
for your organization. Learn how to decrease staff turnover, conflict and stress while increasing
productivity, empowerment, and job satisfaction. Learn how YOU can create a culture of caring by
creating rituals, establishing relevancy, and investing in relationships. Learn the art and science of
making creativity, celebration, and continuous quality improvement core components of your culture.