National Afterschool Association’s (NAA) Next Generation of Afterschool Leaders identifies young leaders and recognizes and cultivates the talent of rising stars who have the potential to influence the field of afterschool for years to come. The selected emerging leader honorees will have: demonstrated contributions that have started to influence beyond individual programs to organizations and communities, a proven passion for development of themselves and others, active engagement in efforts to elevate the afterschool field and demonstrated persistence in their work to grow as leaders.

In an effort to engage more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs over the next 5 years as part of the Million Girls Moonshot initiative, AzCASE encourages young leaders to participate in the Girl Up STEM for Social Good Virtual Tour!

Girl Up is bridging the gender gap in STEM fields by inspiring girl leaders to use STEM skills to create solutions to problems in their communities. That’s STEM for Social Good. Youth ages 13-22 from all around the world are invited to hear from women in STEM, gain an increased understanding of 21st century STEM skills and human centered design, and learn how to develop a STEM-centered solution to an issue in their community. All participants will have a chance to apply for and obtain a $500 grant to implement their STEM-centered community solution.

Citizen science is an evergreen tool for meaningfully connecting youth with nature. Amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic and widespread school closures, it’s never been more important to help youth feel knowledgeable and informed about how the environment works—and see science as the means to understand. Children stuck at home are experiencing reduced access to environmental learning and parents and educators feel pressure to highlight the outdoors as a safe, exciting place to learn. Out-of-school time partners are concerned roughly 11 million youth could miss engagement in OST and STEM programs by December 2020. Research consistently points to nature-based learning as a direct line to increasing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. 

Mummification has been around for thousands of years, being conducted by humans, and by nature! A mummy is a deceased person or animal whose skin, organs, or some tissue has been preserved. This makes mummies different from just a skeleton, because part of the organic matter, like skin, is saved over time. Normally, when something dies, it breaks down because of microbes, insects, and the natural way organic matter starts to decay. The key to mummification is drying - some things we see around us are preserved in a similar way like raisins, beef jerky, or freeze-dried fruit. If it can stay at a relatively constant temperature, dry, and away from critters and decomposers, it has a possibility to be preserved. In this experiment, we will be able to “mummify” an apple. Observe the process of desiccation and see how mummification changes the way things break down.