June is a Month Chock-full of Multicultural / Equality / Healthy Lifestyles Celebrations

June is a month in which we love to celebrate. We tend to celebrate the end of our academic school year, graduations, the beginning of summer and.......

1) Juneteenth - Is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. It was on June 19, 1865 that Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official on January 1, 1863. (Please see resource section below for activity ideas.)

2) LGBTQ Pride Month - Is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, but also to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. (Please see resource section below for Teaching Tolerance lesson plans.)

3) Great Outdoors Month - June is a special time to celebrate America's great outdoors. Help youth celebrate the natural wonder and outdoor spirit by getting them outside and engaged in a variety of outdoor activities. Click here for outdoor games to engage youth in.

Now let's take a peek and see how a few expanded learning programs in the region have been engaging youth in STEM / enrichment learning activities.



Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: 
Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center

Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District

Grade Level of Activity: 1st -6th Grade

Number of students who took part in the activity: 15

Type of Activity: S.T.E.A.M.

Learning Outcomes - Students were able to:

• Learn about the periodic table of elements
• Learn how and why carbonated drinks actually help plants grow

Expanded Learning youth learning about how carbonation helps plants grow.

For more information on this activity please feel free to email Expanded Learning 

Site Coordinator Teresa Hernandez at teresa@sccsc.org.

STEM / Expanded Learning and Other Pertinent Articles:

1) Learning is Social, Emotional, and Academic 
    (Education Week article by Linda Darling-Hammond and 
     Tim Shriver, May 1, 2018)

2) Immigrant Students: Our Kids, our Future 
    (Learning Policy Institute Blog: Education and the Path to Equity)

3) Closing the Communication Gap and Finding Time
    (Learning in Afterschool Blog)

4) Juuling Craze: Schools Scramble to Deal with Student Vaping
    (Education Week article by Evie Blad, May 4, 2018)

5) Ways to Integrate Writing into Science Classes
     (Education Week Teacher Blog)

6) The Power of Sharing Circles
    (Learning in Afterschool Blog)

7) Happy Teachers Practice Self-Care
    (Education Week Article by Madeline Will)

8) The Science Behind Student Engagement
    (Pearson- Whitepaper)

9) Early-Grades Science: The First Key STEM Opportunity
    (Education Week article by Madeline Will, May 22, 2018) 

10) Why Children Aren't Behaving, and What You Can Do About It
      (NPR Education article by Cory Turner, June 2, 2018)


STEM (and other core content) Activities / Websites / Media Content:

1) Parent Engagement as a lever for Equity and Achievement
    (Education Week Conversation: Video)

2) Meet the Women Who First Integrated America's School's
    (NPR Podcast May 29, 2018)

3) Asian American Heritage Month Activities (Pre-K-12th)

4) Teaching Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 
    (NEA Activities: K-5)

5) Summer Reading Resources (NEA)

6) NEA Science Resources Page (K-12)

7) Gender and Sexual Identity Lesson Plans (Teaching Tolerance Activities)

8) Children's Activities for Juneteenth

9) Activities / Resources / Videos for Juneteenth

10)  7 Games from Around the World


STEM / Educational Grants: 

1) CAN Funding Opportunities Webpage

2) Impact Foundry Grant Page

3) Afterschool Alliance Grant Page

4) Bank of The West Grant Page


STEAM / Misc. Professional Learning Sessions / Contest / Events:

1) How Kids Learn Conference (December 6, 2018) (Oakland)


We will share items as they come across our desk before the next blog post.



Thanks again for all that you do in the field. Please keep us posted about STEM 
events / activities in your area. Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Monica Gonzalez-Williams (SCOE: Region 3: After School Regional Lead):
mgonzalez@scoe.net

Phil Romig (SCOE: Science Curriculum Specialist): promig@scoe.net

Mark Drewes (SCOE: Project Specialist II: Expanded Learning) mdrewes@scoe.net