Maine Afterschool Network (MASN) works to connect afterschool educators across the state of Maine to resources and colleagues. Maine Afterschool Networks’ mission is to enable every child to have access to quality, inclusive, affordable after school programming that meets the needs of the child, the family and the community.
MMSA currently serves as STEM hub for Maine Afterschool Network. At the heart of our partnership is making sure afterschool educators and their programs have access to quality STEM activities, can attend professional development sessions at a free or reduced fee and are well connected to the national resources. Together MMSA and MASN, recently launched a well received STEM Afterschool Listserv and convened stakeholders to begin discussions on how to improve STEM program quality here in Maine. In December, we are planning a joint formative assessment workshop and early in the New Year, MMSA will work with MASN to create a collective pool of program assessment questions that can be administered across the state and at a variety of of afterschool programs to better understand what is being taught, how is it being received and where are the gaps in STEM education. This data and the corresponding stories will be shared and will hopefully strengthen the network and connect afterschool providers to formal classrooms and to legislative initiatives.
