Online Professional Learning and
Technical Assistance for
21st Century Community Learning Centers
  1. Y4Y
  2. About Y4Y
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About Y4Y

Learn!

Moments of joy mark the real learning experiences of our lives. Whether we call them discoveries, breakthroughs, understandings or wows, they tickle our brains and make us want to know more. You help young people find these experiences.

Y4Y focuses on learning for every staff member at every level of a 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, and for every young person you work with. Research tells us that students who attend high-quality afterschool programs are likely to do better in school, make positive choices about their health and well-being, and show improved communication and social skills with peers and adults.

The Y4Y Mission:

To build a community of caring and competent professionals who nurture, motivate, and engage children and youth in 21st CCLC programs.

Y4Y provides professional learning opportunities to help you achieve your career goals. What you do with the children in your program helps them achieve their life dreams.

Grow

You already have a passion for your work. With Y4Y, you can grow your knowledge and skills to become more professional about doing that work. Y4Y learning experiences, tools and other resources come from afterschool experts, education researchers and people at real afterschool programs. The examples you'll find here have not been invented. Rather, they have been put into settings that can help you look at your work in new ways — and grow to make it better.

This site is designed to support the important work — and play — that happens in an out-of-school time setting. It embraces positive youth development and resilience practices to create environments that nurture the healthy development of the whole child — and the whole staff.

Join

Please join Y4Y to track your learning as you explore this site. You’ll get notifications of new learning opportunities and receive the Insider newsletter. Follow the links that sound most interesting to you. Then keep coming back. Help this site grow, too.

Not sure where to start?

First, sign into your Y4Y account! Not a member of Y4Y? Signing up is easy and beneficial. Becoming a Y4Y member allows you to:

  • Save your work in modules, including the notes in your Notebook.
  • Participate in the webinars and discussion forums.
  • Connect with colleagues and programs.
  • Have the option of receiving email newsletters keeping you informed about new developments to Y4Y, upcoming Webinars and other important afterschool news

You for Youth will collect no personal information about you unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell or transfer any personal information to a third party. Click here to join!

Second, Select your role within 21st CCLC below for navigation tips on using Y4Y for your specific needs.

The Y4Y portal is a valuable resource for your program directors, site coordinators and staff members. As a state education agency representative, you can use the Y4Y portal to request free, targeted, on-site or virtual technical assistance from our team of Y4Y trainers. See our technical assistance page for a technical assistance catalog and information on how to request trainings.

The Y4Y portal has valuable tools and resources for you and your staff. It’s designed to strengthen your knowledge of critical aspects of out-of-school learning time that contribute to increased program quality. The site is organized into four main areas, as described below.

Courses

In the Courses section you’ll find information on all Y4Y course topics. Each topic area has three subsections: Introduction (basic information on the topic), Implementation Strategies (practical guidance), and Coaching My Staff (techniques to help staff implement promising practices).

Train Your Staff

The Train Your Staff section provides training materials on each Y4Y course topic. Materials include Trainings to Go (with customizable PowerPoint presentations and handouts); Training Starters (outlines and tips for designing your own trainings); and other tools for planning, implementing and assessing program activities.

Resources

The Resource section provides Y4Y course tools such as templates and planners for designing high-quality programming. Every course tool on the Y4Y portal is available from the Tools page. You can also access the Learn More Library, Drug and Alcohol Prevention resources, conference materials, and more!

Y4Y Click & Go

Do you wonder if doing a student needs assessment is more than you can manage? Want to know what’s involved in “intentional program design”? What does it mean to “implement with fidelity”? Get quick answers to these questions — plus targeted tools and strategies — with Y4Y Click & Go professional learning resources. Three compact sets of mini-lessons, podcasts and tools will help your program aim, align and administer for success.

Y4Y Webinars

Build on what you’ve learned on the Y4Y web portal by participating in live webinars and online discussions with experts on issues that matter to you and your staff. Learn about current research and trends in afterschool and summer programming.

Y4Y Blogs, Discussion Boards

You and your staff can check out our blog to stay informed about Y4Y resources and professional development offerings. Register on the website now to receive alerts when new articles are posted. Also encourage staff members to visit the Y4Y discussion boards, post successes and challenges, and interact with other programs across the country that share useful feedback or resources.

 

Deepen your knowledge of promising practices in out-of-school time. Check your understanding with short assessments and receive a certificate of completion.

Courses

Select a content area of interest. Complete the Introduction section for an overview of the topic, then go to the Implementation Strategies section to learn practical ways to incorporate this topic into your program. Don’t forget to explore the Tools and external resources in the Learn More Library area of each course!

Resources

The Resource section provides Y4Y course tools that include templates and planners for designing high-quality programming. Every course tool on the Y4Y portal is available from the Tools page. You can also access the Learn More Library, Drug and Alcohol Prevention resources, conference materials, and more!

Y4Y Webinars

Participate in live webinars and online discussions with experts on issues that matter to you. Learn about current research and trends in afterschool and summer programming.

Y4Y Blogs, Discussion Boards

Check out our blog to stay informed about Y4Y resources and professional development offerings. Register on the website now to receive alerts when new articles are posted. Also visit our discussion boards. Post your successes and challenges, and interact with other programs across the country that share useful feedback or resources.

Questions? Please email the Y4Y team at y4y@seiservices.com

 

The documents posted on this server contain links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to particular items is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered, on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.