News You Can Use Week of September 28 2012
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October is Head Start Awareness Month October is Head Start Awareness Month! Last year, programs celebrated with declarations, parades, open houses and more. What are you planning for this year to help educate your community and your representatives about the critical work you’re doing in your community? Let us know on facebook, twitter or by emailing ktrujillo@nhsa.org. NHSA is planning several events and providing participation suggestions which you can view on our Head Start Awareness Month Web page. Make sure to join in on the fun while raising awareness of Head Start’s impact in the community. Congress Passes FY2013 Continuing Resolution: What It Means for Head Start Late last week, the House and the Senate agreed to a Continuing Resolution to fund the Federal government through March 2013. This agreement matters to Head Start for two reasons:
That means that according to current law, Head Start will face an estimated $637 million in cuts as part of the sequestration. NHSA will continue to work against the sequester and will need your help over the next few months! Visit supportheadstart.org and send a letter to your members of congress asking them to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction that does not include sequestration. Successful Fall Leadership Institute! Thanks to all of you who participated in our Fall Leadership Institute during the week of September 17 - 21! We heard from some wonderful speakers including Samuel Meisels from the Erikson Institute, Neera Tanden from the Center for American Progress, Charles Blow from the New York Times, and Lee Carter from Malansky, Luntz and Partners. Materials from the conference available on our website soon. Find out about the upcoming Winter Leadership Institute! NHSA Partners with Nonprofit VOTE for a Voter Registration Webinar NHSA has partnered with Nonprofit VOTE and several other organizations on a special one-hour Nonprofits Get Out the Vote web event. It will take place on October 11, 2012 from 2-3 PM EDT. We strongly encourage you to join us on the webinar - Register Here. Please join with nonprofits across the country as we lift our voices and mobilize our communities to help America vote on November 6th! The event will feature:
27 Million Windows -- We Want to Hear From Your Families! A special opening session at the NHSA Parent Conference this December will feature the stories of 8 families from across the country who have been touched by Head Start and Early Head Start! Do you want a family from your program featured? Encourage all your current and past parents - and their children if they’re old enough - to share their stories at go.nhsa.org/27millionwindows. Families who submit their stories before October 1, 2012 will be considered for the event. October Family Connections Newsletter The October NHSA Family Connections newsletter is ready to print! This issue focuses on farm-to-family for all, tips on eating local and making healthy changes, a game on food portions and a guide for creating your own windowsill garden. Celebrate Farm to Head Start during October! Many Head Start programs are engaging in “Farm to Head Start” activities, including purchasing local food for meals and snacks, bringing students to farms and farmers into the classroom, teaching students how to cook or prepare locally grown food, and even tending to your own gardens. October is Head Start Awareness Month and National Farm to School Month (www.farmtoschoolmonth.org). On October 18th, NHSA and National Farm to School Network will announce “Celebrate Farm to Head Start Day.” Check out our web page to learn more about how we will celebrate Farm to Head Start in four innovative Head Start programs on October 18th. Never heard of Farm to Head Start or Farm to Preschool? You can learn more, read about different program models, and sign up for a monthly Farm to Preschool e-newsletter at www.farmtopreschool.org. Exploring Opportunities for Access and Awareness of Good Food Options In the Spring of 2012 , Michigan State University's Center for Regional Food Systems partnered with the NHSA to survey its membership about their farm to school efforts. Over half of the respondents indicated an interest in purchasing products from local farmers/producers and one-third currently operate school gardens! Click here to read the full Survey Summary Report.
Save the Date! This is the only national conference that delivers high-quality training and educational opportunities to Head Start parents and those who work with or on behalf of parents. In addition to the special Fatherhood sessions and the Family Services Institute, this year we have added:
Click here for more information and a tentative schedule at a glance. Don't Miss These Upcoming Events: Winter Leadership Institute 40th Annual Head Start Conference Coming Up on October 10th Head Start Governance, from 3-5 pm EST. A Head Start Legal Advisory Service Webinar. Start your year off right. Attend the Head Start Legal Advisory Service’s upcoming webinar on Head Start Governance, led by Zoë Beckerman of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, to learn about Board and Policy Council composition requirements and tips to stay compliant on Wednesday, October 10th from 3-5 pm EST. Whether you are new to Head Start or Early Head Start or you need a refresher on some of the most critical issues in working with a Board or Policy Council, be sure to sign up for this webinar! At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
Who Should Attend: Head Start Management, and staff assisting Boards and Policy Council, but all are welcome to attend. Coming Up on Thursday, October 25th, don't miss Overview of Head Start Monitoring dfrom 3-5 pm EST. A Head Start Legal Advisory Service Webinar. Be prepared for unannounced reviews. Attend the Head Start Legal Advisory Service’s upcoming webinar, Overview of Head Start Monitoring, led by Zoë Beckerman of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP, to learn about the monitoring process and how to tackle unannounced reviews on Thursday, October 25th from 3-5 pm EST. OHS has increased the number of unannounced reviews and the monitoring review process is now linked to recompetition, so be sure to sign up for this webinar! (Please note, this webinar does not walk through the new review protocol. Future webinars will do so.) At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
Who Should Attend: Executive Directors, Head Start Directors, and Management Team, but all are welcome to attend. The Head Start Legal Advisory Service is a collaboration between the law firm of Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP and the National Head Start Association. Click here for the full schedule of Head Start Legal Advisory Service webinars, to learn about our new reduced pricing, and to register for either or both webinars. You’re invited to participate in updating the 2009 ECE Leadership Compendium In 2009, the first-ever Compendium of the ECE field's leadership programs was published, titled Leadership Development in Early Childhood Care and Education: A View of the Current Landscape. Its authors are reaching out to you to update this document. A second edition of the document is planned for publication in 2013. If you are involved in an ECE leadership program or initiative, please go to http://goo.gl/QYbhz to complete a short survey so we can update your earlier description (available here) OR include you in the 2013 Leadership Compendium. Survey responses will be collected through Monday, October 15 at 5:00p.m. Questions or comments can be sent to: ECELeadership@gmail.com Text4Baby Webinar en Español on October 10th If you would like to attend the Text4Baby webinar, it is now also being offered in Spanish on October 10th at 2pm EST. Here’s the invite en español: “Usted está invitado a la Webinar en español sobre Text4Baby Organizado por el Centro para las Asociaciones Religiosas y Comunitarias del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de los Estados Unidos.” Register here. Register for Teachstone’s Free Webinar Series “Are You Reliable? The Importance of CLASS Trainings and Certification” States, schools and districts across the country are using the CLASS tool to fairly and accurately measure effective teaching. Educators use CLASS data to monitor and improve the quality of teacher-student interactions within and across classrooms, schools, and districts. To ensure that every classroom is measured fairly and accurately, it’s important that observers use the tool reliably. Teachstone’s CLASS Observation Training helps educators correctly identify effective interactions and score classrooms based upon their observations. Join this webinar to learn more about becoming a certified CLASS observer and how to remain reliable using recertification, calibration, and double coding programs. Warm Coats Warm Hearts: A Children's Coat Event In a major Head Start Awareness Month event, Burlington Coat Factory, One Warm Coat, and NHSA have teamed up to provide thousands of new coats to Head Start children in 12 cities across the country. The kick-off event will take place in October in Falls Church, Virginia, where 1,500 children from the Higher Horizons Day Care Center, Inc. Head Start program will receive a new warm coat. Visit our October Head Start Awareness Month Web page for more information. There are many ways Head Start programs can obtain new or gently used coats for their children and families, and the value of the coats can be counted as matching funds! Go here for more information. Pathways to the Middle Class: Balancing Personal and Public Responsibilities Earlier this month, the Social Genome Project presented new research at The Brookings Institution on how many of today's children are likely to succeed, who they are, how success at one stage affects success in subsequent stages of life, and what might help keep more children on track. Their work builds upon recent research demonstrating that America has less upward mobility than most people believe. This recording sheds light on some of the reasons less advantaged children fall behind their more advantaged peers at every stage of life. You can click on the links to watch the presentation or read the research paper. Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign! Share Our Strength strives to gain attention for the important federal programs that are crucial in the fight to end childhood hunger. Check out this ad, which highlights people who used SNAP benefits in their younger years. Sandra Lee (Food Network star), Ruth Riley (WNBA player for the Chicago Sky) and Rep. Joe Baca (California’s 43rd district) talk about how food stamps got their families through tough times and made it possible for them to be who they are today. | |
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