Communities of Practice

Shared areas of interest, opportunities to practice, and experiencing a sense of belonging are central to learning no matter your age, education, or experience. The following “Communities of Practice” situate training and learning within a group of individuals who share a desire to grow a specific area of their practice over time. If you’re drawn to community and are committed to growth, consider joining one of the following Communities of Practice.

 

Building Assets in Youth- Discover You™

In partnership with Discover You ™, the Michigan Afterschool Partnership is excited to announce an upcoming Community of Practice (CoP) for the Out-of-School Time (OST) Sector. This CoP desires to bring OST practitioners from across the state together in a learning environment to create community. The CoP will be in a hybrid format, with a strong emphasis on implementation. Each participant will leave the CoP with a curriculum they can put into practice.

Outcomes:

  • Participants are trained and equipped with 18 workshops with 45 activities to implement in after school programs

  • Participants trained in key concepts of youth development

  • Participants adding to their MiYDA credential training and program aligns with NAA Competencies

 

STEM Community of Practice

In partnership with the Million Girls Moonshot (MGM) initiative, MASP will hold our second STEM Community of Practice (CoP). The Million Girls Moonshot allows girls to envision themselves as future innovators, but it also increases the quality of out-of-school STEM learning opportunities for all young people, particularly underserved and underrepresented youth. 

This CoP will bring together participants from across the state to dig into MGM’s four Transformative Practices; STEM Access to All Framework, Engineering Mindset, Role Models-Mentors-and Families, and Continuous STEM Learning Pathways. We have space for only 15 OST organizations. Each participating organization who fulfills all CoP requirements will receive $750.

 

Youth Voice Community of Practice

For two+ decades, Neutral Zone developed its “youth driven spaces” model, empowering youth to work in partnership with adults as active collaborators, decision makers, and problem solvers. In partnership with the Weikart Center for Program Quality and Michigan State’s Community Evaluation Research Collaborative, Neutral Zone has developed and disseminated its Youth-Driven Space (YDS) intervention to high schools, out of school time programs, libraries, and adolescent health centers. If you're interested in elevating youth voice and shared leadership in your program, consider joining us for this series of trainings and conversations about how you can begin empowering youth to work in partnership in THEIR program with adults. 

The Community of Practice (CoP) in Youth Driven Spaces (YDS) is a unique partnership between the Michigan Afterschool Partnership and the Neutral Zone. The aim is to serve a cohort of youth-service professionals, across Michigan, and equip them with the skills and supports to grow high quality programs that center youth voice and youth-adult partnerships. 

This CoP program will support 24 community-based practitioners to develop their capacities in Youth Driven Spaces (YDS) by engaging in intensive training and practice-based opportunities to develop their skills as practitioners of YDS theory, content, and strategies to mentor others. Participants will work to strengthen YDS practices in their own programs and organizations.  In this CoP program, participants will engage in two, in-person full-day sessions and seven, half-day virtual sessions, scheduled between November 2023 and May 2024. See the overview for dates and objectives for each session.