Itasca Networks for Youth committed to continuous improvement of afterschool programs Across the nation, nearly one-fifth of children in the United States attend public schools in rural communities. Youth-serving organizations that provide out-of-school time programming for these kids face many barriers. The vast geography of the county, the economic struggles, cultural differences and the varying school district sizes all create [...]
Courtney Johnson, Community Engagement Coordinator leads session with Itasca Networks for Youth participants. In the spring of 2017, SPARK, in partnership with the University of Minnesota Extension hired an Itasca County Community Engagement Coordinator. The goal of this position was to utilize the University of Minnesota Extension resources to directly address youth needs in Itasca County. The position [...]
On January 22, many of the Itasca Area afterschool programs will participate in a quality improvement planning day. The process is called M3 -- Making Meaning from Multiple Data sets. Jan Derdowski and Courtney Johnson will lead participants through a process to identify changes they can make so that their programs are more effective serving young people. Program teams are [...]
As Itasca County joined the national celebration of Lights on Afterschool last month, we were thrilled to have two of our local afterschool champions recognized by Ignite Afterschool, Minnesota’s statewide afterschool network. Kayleen MonacelliAfterschool ChampionYouthWorker/Practitioner Category Kayleen Monacelli from Deer River Community Education and the Deer River Boys and Girls Club was awarded Afterschool Champion in the Youth [...]
Itasca Networks for Youth will be sponsoring a Youth Program Quality (YPQ) Basics training for all Itasca Area Youth providers on December 15 from 9:00 to 2:00 at the University of Minnesota Extension classroom. This training is open to anyone who works with youth outside of school in the Greater Itasca Area. Participants will dig into the specific practices as defined [...]
Today is the national celebration of Lights On Afterschool. SPARK is celebrating all the great afterschool happenings in our area with the Itasca Networks for Youth (INY). Courtney Johnson, Community Engagement Coordinator with SPARK and U of M Extension offers this blog post to highlight how the network advances quality afterschool opportunities for kids in our area. From Courtney Johnson: This [...]
Itasca Networks for Youth (INY) builds high quality afterschool programs for all kids in the greater Itasca Area. In 2016, INY adopted the quality principles described in “Believe it. Build it. Minnesota’s Guide to Effective Afterschool Practices.” You can learn more about the guide here. By adopting these principles, INY is dedicated to recognizing the wide variety of ways and [...]
Need a hearty start to a late October morning? Come to the next Core Team gathering! October 24, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. University of Minnesota Extension -- Grand Rapids office -- Parking is available behind the offices. Itasca Networks for Youth (INY) will share how area afterschool providers design programs to build strong relationships between area youth and supportive adults. [...]
Staff representing several area youth programs participated on Friday in an all day workshop called "Making Meaning from Multiple Data Sets". The participants came to the workshop with data in four areas: Program quality, program participation, youth experience and youth outcomes. Through a process led by Jan Derdowski, University of Minnesota Extension Educator, the teams analyzed their data and discovered [...]