CenterPoint Energy has two education websites, both with downloadable activities and interactive games about safety, STEM and career awareness topics. In fact, the interactive games are able to be viewed on most mobile devices.
Please visit their websites below:
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) was founded 27 years ago to improve the lives and outcomes of traditionally underserved youth. AYPF founder, Sam Halperin, wrote in the seminal report, The Forgotten Half: Pathways to Success for America’s Youth and Young Families, that underserved youth face multiple obstacles that hinder their life prospects. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the harsh reality that not enough has changed to effectively address their needs, that are exacerbated by the crisis.
AYPF applauds efforts to collect and catalog resources for parents and practitioners scrambling to rise to the challenges of the pandemic. Education leaders are providing meals and educational resources for parents attempting to create a home-based learning environment for their children. Health care leaders are offering support to help children and youth manage their stress. And efforts are underway in multiple sectors to ensure that families can provide safe and secure housing for children and youth.
AYPF offers additional tools and resources designed for traditionally underserved youth, who are struggling to meet current needs while managing the emerging needs during the pandemic. Please add to the list and email additional resources to ensure this list, to the extent possible, is helpful and relevant.
Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council is providing virtual programming to members and non-members to keep our girls learning during this challenging time!
Girl Scouting from Home resources can be accessed by visiting here.
Also, explore their resources on how to talk to kids about COVID19.
Anyone currently experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should contact their healthcare provider. Harris County residents without access to healthcare can call the triage line for COVID-19-related questions at 713.634.1110 from 9am-7pm, 7 days a week. For more information on COVID-19, please go to www.ReadyHarris.org or www.hcphtx.org.
Harris County/Houston Self-Assessment Tool: Determine whether you may need further assessment or need to be tested for COVID-19.
Coronavirus: Houston Health Updates
Houston Food Bank: Find a partner near you, apply for SNAP, call their helpline at 832.369.9390 or text FOOD to 855.308.2282 to find your nearest food pantry.
Houstonians with disabilities can still contact MOPD staff for referrals and constituent services by calling 832.394.0814 or by emailing mopdmail@houstontx.gov during normal business hours.
For Harris County Residents:
The Harris Center’s Harris County COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line: 833-251-7544 (Available 24/7)
Harris County Public Health: 832-927-7575* (*This number is staffed 9 a.m. to 7p.m. everyday)
Harris Health System: 713-634-1110* (*This number is 9am-7pm, everyday clinical-related questions only)
For City of Houston Residents:
Houston Health Department: 832-393-4220* (*This number is staffed 9 a.m. to 7p.m. M-F, 9am-3pm on Sat.)
For Fort Bend County Residents:
Fort Bend County Health & Human Services: 281-633-7795* (*This number is Monday-Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm)
For questions about COVID‑19, including finding a doctor or accessing medical care, dial 2‑1‑1, then choose Option 6.
(Hours: 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., 7 days per week)
During this time of social distancing, you can continue to advance your skills with various styles of professional development. There are options such as taking a course through Cypherworx (free through HCDE’s CASE for Kids), viewing webinars from NAA, Afterschool Alliance, CASEL and Share My Lesson or just watching OST and SEL best practice videos and reflecting on ways to improve your interactions with youth. Many of these organizations are offering access to their materials free to ensure that OST professionals continue to learn and grow professionally during social distancing. Please consider joining one of the membership organizations in the future to express your appreciation.
Cypherworx is an online professional development platform where you can access a variety of courses, 24/7. CASE for Kids offers you the opportunity to access this resource for free! All courses have been approved for clock hours by the Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System. Take a 36-hour school age certificate series, access early childhood courses, and explore workshops on non-profit operations or health and safety matters. Enroll here and get learning! Contact Kathy Evans at kevans@hcde-texas.org with questions.
Webinars on demand or scheduled:
CASE for Kids offers a webinar series to offer different teaching strategies to implement in afterschool and summer programs. Webinar topics include literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional learning (SEL) integration. Each webinar is 15-25 minutes in length and can be viewed at any time. Our presenter is Dr. Cedric B. Stewart is an educational practitioner and consultant. He has over 22 years of experience working in public urban education settings. He specializes in behavioral interventions and special educational instructional methodologies designed to impact students ‘ academic and behavioral progress. Topics range from behavior management and SEL concepts o reading and numeracy strategies in OST. These webinars help to meet the training requirement for Select Service providers. Click here to access the list of available webinars on page 14 of the 2020 Spring Training calendar.
Afterschool Alliance offers a searchable database of webinars. Topics range from summer learning to youth voice, bullying, programming ideas and resources for OST field leaders. Access their webinars, to enhance your work in the field.
CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning) has launched CASEL Cares, an initiative that connects SEL community with experts to discuss how SEL can be helpful in the current situation and in the future. Topics are developing and a recorded version of “Strategies for being your Best SELf” is available. Click here to access recorded webinars and see schedule for live webinars in April.
NAA (National Afterschool Association) understands that it is essential that OST leaders understand and develop their own social and emotional competencies. This webinar series offers tips on developing SEL curriculum and guides leaders on how to assess their own EQ.
Sandford Harmony offers webinars focused on relevant topics in education. These engaging webinars help inform educators about social emotional learning and provide practical SEL strategies that can be used in schools and organizations across the world. Click here for recorded webinars and to see upcoming scheduled webinars in April.
Share My Lesson is pleased to offer educators free access to the 42 webinars that were just presented at their virtual conference. Explore topics such as trauma informed practices, STEM, equity in education and SEL. Register here to access these informative webinars focused on relevant topics in PK-12 education.
Videos to watch and reflect:
Nation at Hope shares videos that they produced in collaboration with Edutopia to show how schools and classrooms across the country are supporting their students’ social, emotional, and academic growth. Watch these videos to explore what we know from research about how learning happens and how that knowledge can be translated into practices and strategies for students at all ages and stages.
Smithsonian Institute, Good Thinking offers short videos that include ideas on teaching science through brain research driven instruction. Click here to watch these fun and informative videos on best practices for teaching science.
Temescal Associates is dedicated to building the capacity of leaders and organizations in education and youth development who are serious about improving the lives of young people. Click here to see the 1-hour documentary on the history of afterschool and to see video presentations from past How Kids Learn Conferences.
Please share with you families, clients, networks, schools, and friends.
Next Friday – 7-8 grades Parent/Caregiver Session 20 minutes.
Following Friday’s – and 9-12 grades Parent/Caregiver Session 20 minutes.
During this time of social distancing, we want to help the girl in your life connect and cope. We are so accustomed to asking “How Are You?”, but just asking “How Are You?” can be a REALLY big question especially during times of high stress or anxiety. At Girls Empowerment Network we create spaces where girls can use their voices to share and practice emotional intelligence. We do this by putting structure, predictability, and a routine way to share our feelings with what we call check-in: a way to check our emotional temperature. The prompts — sunny (something positive), cloudy (something you would change), rainbow (something you’re looking forward to) — allow for answers more elaborate than “I’m good” or “I’m fine,” it opens up an assumption-free space, and it builds in a way to follow-up on specific situations. The prompts are girl-friendly and a way for us to enter the girl world with an opportunity to truly hear how they are. When girls feel safe to open-up and share how they’re actually feeling, they feel heard and validated, when their voices are heard and their feelings are acknowledged, they feel powerful, and when they feel powerful, they can be unstoppable.
WHAT ELSE ARE WE DOING TO CONNECT?
• We’ve started a YouTube Channel Playlist, Girl Sparks!
• We’re calling our girls and families to see how they’re doing and to learn from them
• We’re refining our self-efficacy increasing curriculum
• We’re working with some of our partner schools to host virtual Girl Connect groups
• We’re creating a resource page on our website for girls and our community
Don’t forget to follow us on Social Media to keep up with what we’ve got going on!
Mayor’s Office of Education has compiled a list of resources for the community. Please visit the website here. Check back often as it is a living document that changes daily.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, afterschool and youth programs are having to quickly adjust. This survey was developed to gather information and share the results back with providers, afterschool leaders, advocates and funders. We estimate that this survey will take about 8 minutes to complete. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete this survey. Please complete before April 9, 2020.
Arjun Sethi, community activist, law professor and author of American Hate: Survivors Speak Out will be facilitating an open webinar on policing, surveillance, and its impact on communities of color. Racial profiling, predictive policing, facial recognition, NSA surveillance, and other trends and practices will be discussed and covered. The webinar is free and open to all Thursday, April 2, 3:00-4:30 pm EST. The conversation is introductory, no background knowledge required. Please find flier below and registration link here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/vpQtc-muqD8oyZO0O74hiRiKSaRrgSwhhg
Volunteer Houston invites nonprofit leaders to participate in a discussion about Virtual Volunteerism. How does it work? What tools exist? How to pivot from in-person to virtual. Open to any and all nonprofit leaders free of charge Monday, April 6th 1-2pm. Please REGISTER IN ADVANCE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Link here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/u50kd-igqDkiS6vLCQ2I6eb2lCFCtfn8mw
Institute for Spirituality and Health (ISH) is announcing mind, body, and skills virtual groups and workshops to reduce anxiety, foster togetherness and promote self-care. To increase resilience and promote well-being during this unprecedented time please access offerings via their website.