The DAA Collective newsletter keeps Denver's afterschool community connected to resources,
professional learning and networking opportunities. Learn more about us.
Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week!
Afterschool Professionals Appreciation (APA) Week (April 24th - 28th), is a time to recognize and honor out-of-school time professionals and all of the amazing work that you all do for families and young people in our community! This year, the Denver Afterschool Alliance (DAA) is committed to making sure that EVERYONE in the OST community has the opportunity to be celebrated and honored. We are offering virtual appreciation tool kits to all organizations to help support and plan celebratory activities for the duration of the APA Week! Complete the following form by Friday, April 14th to receive a tool kit for your organization!
The impact that you all make on young people, our community and each other is HUGE, and deserves to be shared! The DAA would like to invite you to write an impact story about a person or an organization in the Denver OST community that has had a powerful impact on you, staff, young people and/or the community. Your stories will be shared in our DAA Collective newsletter. Take a moment to publicly recognize your peers for all of their amazing work! To participate, please email your story to Erma Cerda.
Family Voice Needed!
Denver is participating in a national research study and the voice of families are crucial! Parent/guardians who enrolled at least one child (Kindergarten-12th grade) in an afterschool or summer program since January 2020 (and continue to have a child enrolled in afterschool or summer programming) are eligible to participate. The caregivers who agree to be interviewed will receive a $45 gift card for a telephone interview about their experiences with their children’s afterschool/summer programming during the pandemic shutdown through the present.
Please distribute flyers (linked here in English and Spanish) to your families so we can elevate their voice and experiences!
Take the Power of Us Survey and You Could Win a $50 Gift Card!
There is still time to contribute your voice to the Power of Us Survey, a first of its kind national survey about the youth fields workforce! Take the Power of Us Survey by TOMORROW, March 31st and you could win a $50 Gift Card!Enter to win by emailing a screenshot of the "you have submitted" page toinfo@coloradoafterschoolpartnership.org (Attn: Gift Card)
14 and 15 year olds (and their parents) in Denver are looking for summer employment opportunities, but they are having difficulty finding organizations that will hire them!
The Denver Afterschool Alliance recognizes that summer hiring is still an issue for many organizations. With Denver teens expressing a desire to work, we want to do all that we can to help connect supply and demand.
Please complete the following form if your organization is hiring 14 and/or 15 year olds for the summer. This information will be used to outreach to teens and parents!
DAAconnect Team Staffing Update
Zainab Dafalla, our DAAconnect Program Coordinator has made the decision to move out of state and back to her hometown. We appreciate Zainab’s contribution to the DAAconnect work, and wish her the best of luck on her next chapter! Many of you already know Erma Cerda, our DAAlearn Program Coordinator, who will be taking on some of the DAAconnect roles! Erma is now your point person for both DAAlearn and DAAconnect.
Summer is just around the corner!
Now is a great time to visit our Youth Program Locator and make sure your summer programs are listed, so that families can easily find you! If you are not on the Youth Program Locator or need to update your information, please login to DAAconnect today and update your profile and program schedule.
Check out the Partner Directory to connect and collaborate with other youth service professionals! The Partner Directory will no longer be accessible in DAAconnect. It is now available on the homepage of theYouth Program Locator! If you haven’t visited the Partner Directory lately, be sure to check it out to easily connect with other youth-serving professionals and explore ways to work together to expand programs and services.
Denver Public Schools is looking for community partners!
Community partners can work with DPS students and schools and access student outcome data through DAAconnect. Please contact Cynthia Willer at cynthia_willer@dpsk12.org, or sign up for an onboarding session here to learn about what it takes to become a District partner.
Funding Opportunities
The Mile High United Way is pleased to share the 2023 Request for Proposals for their Strategic Investment Grant! This RFP will focus on Early Childhood Education; Out-of-School Time programs; Access to Food; Access to Housing; Legal Services; and Tax Preparation Services.
For more information about how to apply to the 2023 Strategic Investment Grant, please sign up to attend an upcoming information session HERE.
Young people can play a powerful role in ensuring equitable access to and mitigating the harmful impacts of technology in communities. But they need funding! The Susan Crown Exchange, Omidyar Network, and nine other partners have launched a pooled fund to support youth-led and intergenerational organizations and initiatives focused on responsible technology called the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund. Click HERE for the open application. Applications are due no later than April 1st.
Job Opportunities
Denver Parks and Recreation has a number of current job openings available!
Click on the links below to learn more and apply!
The Denver Police Teen Volunteer Program is currently recruiting teens ages 16-19 for their summer program! Teens will be working alongside Denver police officers and staff for the betterment of the City and County of Denver. This is a great opportunity for teens to earn volunteer hours for graduation, college and scholarship applications! For more information and to apply, click HERE.
Application Deadline is Wednesday, May 10, 2023
CSU Spur strives to provide hands-on experiences for students to learn about food, water, and health. It serves as a laboratory, veterinary clinic, market, museum, art studio, classroom, garden, innovation center…all in one! They are now accepting field trip requests for summer and the 2023/24 school year!
Reservations are required to bring a group to CSU Spur.
All CSU Spur education programs are FREE to school groups.
Transportation (bus) reimbursement is available for qualifying schools.
If you are interested in bringing your group to CSU Spur, please fill out this interest form.
Do you know any young people that are interested in a career in banking?BankWork$ is an 8-week job training program offered by Goodwill of Colorado, that prepares students for entry level banking jobs. Students who complete the program have an 80% job placement rate in local banks. Goodwill helps ensure that all BankWork$ students have the support they need to be successful in class and find employment after graduation.
Starting April 3, 2023, Goodwill of Colorado will be offering new BankWork$ classes!
Check out the program flyer HERE.
To learn more and to apply, contact bankwork$@goodwillcolorado.org.
Upcoming Professional Learning Sessions
We are so excited to see all of you at the upcoming professional learning sessions this spring!
Space may be limited to some of the sessions. If you are unable to attend after having signed up, please cancel your registration in Eventbrite or email Erma Cerda so that we can open seats up to other interested parties!
According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary definition, resilience is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” According to Prentis Hemphill, founder of The Embodiment Institute, resilience is our birthright. It’s what we come into the world with. It’s where creativity comes from. It’s where our relationality comes from. And so, the practice of resilience is about resourcing ourselves, accessing resilience, and the experience of resilience whenever we might need it. Prentis recently hosted abrief meditation on the Happiness Break podcast that we can tap into at any time when experiencing stress and anxiety. Check out all the resources fromThe Greater Good Science Centeron the power of resilience and how you can intentionally cultivate it in yourself and support its development in those around you.
