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Online Registration for Afterschool Programs Begins August 14th!
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A Message From Anna Harutyunyan, NAZA Chief Executive
We are all in this together. As we start an unprecedented school year, the NAZA team stands by youth, families, partner organizations, and larger Nashville community. We are committed to investing our resources equitably to support you - from virtual learning support to accessing learning resources; to coaching and mentoring; and to sharing love and care for each of you. Knowing the trauma, challenges, and uncertainty of the past several months, we strongly believe that by continuously focusing our efforts on social and emotional well-being, by creating positive engagement with caring adults and peers, by inspiring love and hope, and by helping youth explore their talents and interests - we will be able to get out of this pandemic even stronger!
Our community-developed, citywide Vision for Holistic Youth Development is more important now than ever. Launching this fall, we hope to support youth with skills and assets they need to thrive in education, work, and life.
Wishing all children and youth a successful learning year!
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Rescheduled! NAZA 10th Anniversary Celebration (9/30 from 3-4:30pm)
On Wednesday, September 30th, NAZA is celebrating 10 years of investing in high-quality afterschool and summer learning experiences for Nashville youth! Plus, we'll preview our new citywide Vision for Holistic Youth Development. You'll hear from youth and families about how the NAZA community helps cultivate leadership and life skills, connect them to positive relationships, and inspire their love for learning. Our Zoom celebration will also include a welcome from city leaders and recognition of community partners and stakeholders over the past decade. Early Bird Registration is now live for NAZA newsletter subscribers. We hope you will join us! (P.S. If you have a #NAZAstory to share -we'd love ot hear it! Contact us here and we'll be in touch.)
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NAZA Partners Host Virtual Summer Learning
Over the past few months, NAZA Partners quickly shifted summer programs to a virtual platform and offered engaging, creative programming to middle schoolers around the city. Meanwhile, NAZA purchased over 700 Chromebooks for youth to provide increased access to this programming. We've popped into several fantastic sessions, including:
- Martha O’Bryan Center created a warm and welcoming summer virtual program that included birthday celebrations, Fear Factor Truth or Dare, and fun workouts with Jaryn, a Cameron alum and Belmont student. Way to go!
- CASE at Global Outreach Developments International did a virtual tshirt design activity and used a platform called Kahoot to play fun learning games and make videos. We love how interactive their sessions were!
- Shayla at DYMON in the Rough led invigorating workouts and stretching activities and used vision boards like the one above to imagine dream countries and homes. We were inspired by the youth leadership opportunities and peer support throughout the session!
- We love what From the Heart is doing to support young musicians and keep them excited and engaged virtually! Youth practiced chord progressions, played and danced to music, and shared a few of their own piano selections with the group.
- Backfield in Motion created safe, supportive spaces that hosted in-depth, meaningful conversations about a variety of topics, including mental health and racial justice using an integrated social and emotional learning approach.
- Youth in Why We Can't Wait learned how to make DIY Solar Ovens! They got excited about fractions together through call and response, sweated along to a Zumba routine, and read from The Watsons Go to Birmingham.
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Just Released! NAZA Fall 2020 Training Calendar
Hot off the press! We are pleased to announce that NAZA's Fall Training Calendar is now available. The calendar includes a number of trainings for both new and returning staff, including foundational trainings like Introduction to Positive Youth Development and Youth Program Quality Assessment Basics. We are also offering trainings on social and emotional learning, including SEL & Connecting Families in a Virtual Environment and SEL Basics, as well as a new 2-part series called Telling Our Stories: Identity Narrative and Youth (Part One and Part Two, both of which tie into the Vision). Trainings will be offered online via Zoom for the fall semester. All are offered free of charge to youth-serving professionals in partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Space is limited - sign up today! (Note: Calendar is subject to change to accommodate emerging needs - visit our website for the most updated listing.)
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Youth Matters May Celebration
In May, NAZA's Youth in Action! led an end-of-year showcase of their inaugural year’s work and facilitated a dynamic discussion on youth voice. The showcase was led by high school youth -- NAZA’s Youth Advisor, Allie, and Youth Community Leaders Heba, Anisa, Yenni, Gabrielle, Lily, and Avery. During the event, we celebrated accomplishments, including Youth in Action!'s engagement of 256 middle school youth in NAZA funded-programs in 2019-2020. Youth leaders also posed questions about how adults can best support and remove barriers for youth in Nashville.
Youth in Action! would like to thank everyone for asking questions that spawned important conversations, and for making it a comfortable space for youth to lead. We felt supported in carrying out our mission as a platform for youth to engage with our community, to voice our opinions, and to advocate for ideas and change that we are passionate about. Highlights from the first year can be found using this link to the showcase’s presentation.
Applications for Youth in Action! this fall are now being accepted! Check out the flyer below and contact youthinactionnashville@gmail.com or (615) 873-0618 with any questions.
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Funder Spotlight: Dan & Margaret Maddox Fund
Each and every day, NAZA's work and community is strengthened by the support of local funders. For the past several years, the Dan & Margaret Maddox Fund has invested in NAZA's professional development and evaluation services, which are key to sustaining high-quality programs for youth. We are so grateful for their dedication and support! Their mission is to better our community through partnerships that improve the lives of young people. Committed to removing barriers that contribute to intergenerational poverty, they value high-impact, long-term programs and movements that promote the voices and courageous leadership of youth.
Joseph Gutierrez, their Education Program Officer, previously coordinated a NAZA-funded program and has played an active role in developing NAZA's citywide Vision for Holistic Youth Development. "Working towards equity requires us to challenge existing social structures and create new partnerships," Joseph says. "NAZA plays an important role by bringing people together to collectively envision a future where young people thrive." We have been inspired by Maddox’s journey to advance equity and recommend their recently-released Anti-Racist Series, a curated resource list about individual, organizational/institutional, and systemic racism.
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