UANJumpstart2024

This session will focus on the Continuous Improvement Cycle framework that follows the Engage-Design-Implement-Adjust cycle. This framework has been shared statewide with MOST teams as a resource for data collection and monitoring progress towards program goals. Our JumpStart discussion will explore the Continuous Improvement Cycle through an OST leader’s lens in evaluating ongoing progress towards intended outcomes and identifying opportunities to make timely adjustments based on data. OST leaders in this session will have opportunities to examine all four components of the cycle and collaborate with others in similar roles across the state (and possibly other western states) to apply this versatile framework to practical leadership situations in their own contexts.

This session is for parents and any adults working with kids and teens. We will also be giving signs to look for when a young person you know may be in an unhealthy or abusive relationship. Whether you are a parent or someone who works with kids or teens in any capacity, it is important to learn how to teach consent and healthy boundaries in little ways at a young age. It is also important to know how to recognize and intervene when young people around you may need help or resources to get out of an emotionally or physically harmful relationship. We plan to teach and discuss these skills so that our audience can help young people in their afterschool programs and pass these skills on to other teens so they can help their friends.

Are you working with youth? Join “Safe Spaces for Youth: Understanding and Responding to Trafficking in Utah.” This session for youth professionals will define human trafficking, discuss its impact, and review Utah-specific data. Learn about the grooming process, identify vulnerabilities, and discover how to connect with the Youth Mentoring Program at the Asian Association of Utah. Gain insights on social solicitation in grooming, develop strategies for disclosure conversations, and receive practical tools to enhance your support for vulnerable youth. Equip yourself to make a significant impact against human trafficking.

We recycle paper in our classrooms; why not food? Learn to create a smell free vermicompost bin suitable for use in the classroom and take home a shoebox sized bin for immediate use. Walk away with the knowledge to create your own red wiggler home out of resources most of us have on hand. Remove trash from the waste stream and turn launch garbage into fertilizer for a school garden or classroom plant. Return with resources to utilize red wiggler worms to teach your students about ecosystems, adaptations, and sustainability. Take away materials lists, handouts, and ideas to engage your students in scientific inquiry, observation, and hands on animal care for these low maintenance, but vital, decomposers in our ecosystem.

Post pandemic, challenging behaviors have seen a sharp increase, which has created undue stress on program providers. In this presentation, participants will learn tips for prevention of challenging behaviors, working with parents and schools to support children, and the essentials of trauma-informed care to better address the needs of children struggling with challenging behaviors.

Join us for a fun and engaging conversation about behavior support strategies for school-age youth. Participants will learn ten time-tested tips for developing safe learning environments; learn the dos and don’ts of transitions; and gain practical tips for resolving conflicts.

Unsure where to start when planning STEM curriculum for youth? This session utilizes the steps of the scientific method to guide you in designing high-quality activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Participants will learn how to center curriculum on observation, asking questions, forming hypotheses, experimentation, data analysis, and communicating results. We will also touch on the PEAR Institute's Dimensions of Success rubric for assessing the quality of STEM programming.