NETWORK CONNECTOR NEWSLETTER
Volume 3, Issue 5; May 2016
In This Issue:

I.     Save the Date!
II.    Bright Spot
V.    Around the City
VI.   Research
VII.  Useful Tools
Save the Date:savedate
Upcoming Network Connection Meeting:
RSVP ahead of time by clicking on the date below:


When & Where: 6:00-8:00pm, Evans Seminar Room (Room 112A), Boston University Medical Campus. 72 East Concord St. Boston, MA, 02118

Dinne r, and pa rking validation for the 71 0 Alban y Garage will be provided.

90 Day Challenge Celebration!
Join Vital Village in celebrating the hard work and collaborations of the network during the Leadership Summit's 90 Day Challenge, as well as the 5 year anniversary of the Vital Village Network!


When & Where: Friday June 10th, 5:30-8:30pm. Merengue Restaurant - 160 Blue Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02119
Bright Spot:bright
Addressing Early Signs of Trauma in Students
" Research shows that when left untreated, serious violence can have ... lifelong impact on students, into adulthood" - Superintendent Tommy Chang 

Boston Public Schools recently received a $1.6 million federal grant to support the placement of trauma specialists in 10 schools throughout Boston. The specialists will help to coordinate interventions with students who have experienced trauma, to reach out to their families, and refer them to partner organizations. Click here to read the full article!
Praising Parents:praisingparents
This month we're celebrating this awesome Dad dancing to a routine his young daughter choreographed. What a duo! Exploring dance with your child brings joy to all involved.




Have a video that you
 think would be perfect 
for next month's 
Praising Parents? 
Share it with us at
Around the Network:network
POWER: A Blue Tie Gala
Join our partner Father's Uplift for an incredible evening of celebrating and fundraising for fathers and their families. The event will bring together caring and passionate community members and organizations, fathers and father figures, their children, and mentees, to fundraise for Boston's first residential/community safe haven for me n and families.The k eynote speaker will be  D r. Steve Perry, Founder of Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, CT.

Consider purchasing a t-shirt with the "This Dad Cares" logo shown above. All funds raised will go directly to Father's Uplift!

Click here to RSVP and purchase your tickets and/or sponsorship level

When: Thursday June 16th, 6-11pm
Where: The Lantana - 43 Scanlon Drive. Randolph, MA 02368
BCM School Readiness Night
Join the Boston Children's Museum on the first Friday of every month for an evening of school readiness activities, circle time, story acting, science exploration, manipulative games, scissors skills, read-a-louds and the play D.W. Counts Down to Kindergarten. Help your kids practice the skills needed to be successful in school!

Remember, every Friday 5-9pm at the Boston Children's Museum, entrance is only $1

When: Friday May 4, 5:30-8:30pm
Where: Boston Children's Museum - 308 Congress St. Boston, MA 02210
Fathers' and Children's Social and Emotional Development Workshop
The Children's Trust's Fathers and Families Network Protective Factors Series works to increase family strengths. In this workshop, participants will learn to help fathers foster their children's social and emotional development, and respond proactively when their child needs support. In order to do so, the workshop will connect research on the importance of father involvement with skills on incorporating social and emotional development activities in programs for dads.

Contact Haji Shearer for more information!

When: Friday May 20, 10am-12pm
Where: Children's Trust - 55 Court St. Boston, MA
20th Annual Mother's Day 
Walk for Peace
Want to end violence and help families who have lost loved ones to violence work through their pain? Walk with the  Louis D. Brown Peace Institute  towards peace from Fields Corner to Boston City Hall this Mother's Day! The Mother's Day Walk is a celebration of our potential to create communities where all families can live in peace and all children are valued.

Click here to learn more!

When: Sunday May 8th, starting at 8am
Where: Town Field Park, Fields Corner - 1520 Dorchester Ave. Dorchester, MA 02122

For those interested in a shorter distance, this entry point is a great option! Start your walk here and meet up with the group!
Estimated Entry Time: 9:45am.
Where: Madison Park High School - 75 Malcolm X Blvd, Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120 
Employment Training Resource Fair
This month, stop by our partner Project Hope's resource fair to learn about their FREE intensive training programs which can help you advance your skills and jump-start a new career!

No registration necessary! However, be sure to bring a photo ID.

For questions, contact Project Hope at (617)442-1880 x218

When: Friday May 13th, 10am-12pm
Where: Project Hope - 550 Dudley St, Roxbury, MA 02119

Around the City: city
Healthy Block Party in Dorchester
Join Talbot-Norfolk Triangle Neighbors United for the 1st Annual Healthy Block Party "Lets Get Moving"! There will be a healthy food cookout, fitness challenges for all ages, a kids bike rodeo, free bike repairs, music, games, a raffle and more!

Special Events:
1pm - double dutch team
2pm - bike stunt show
3pm - dance team / zumba

For more information, email or call Takiyah or Katie at 617-929-0925.

When: Saturday May 7, 12-4pm (rain date May 14)
Where: Elmhurst Street, Dorchester MA 02124
Family Fun Day
All Dorchester Sports League in association with Propa City Community Outreach presents their 3rd annual Family Fun Day this May! Family Fun Day is a day of music, fun, and food, designed to promote unity in the community among neighborhoods. The event strives to bring awareness to the business and resources available to all community members. Admission will be $5 for kids and $10 for adults

To learn more, email or call Stephanie Crawford at 617-548-2271.

When: Saturday May 14, 10am-6pm
Where: Town Field in Fields Corner - 1565 Dorchester Ave. Dorchester, MA
Kite and Bike Festival
The 2016 Franklin Park Kite & Bike Festival, co-coordinated by the Franklin Park Coalition and Discover Roxbury. Bring a kite or buy one in the park. Ride your bike to the festival or rent a bike from Boston Bikes. There will be bike tours of the park, food trucks, craft vendors and more!

If you have questions, or are interested in having a table or being a vendor at the event, please contact 617-442-4141.

When: Saturday May 14, 11am-4pm
Where: The Franklin Park Playstead - Pierpont Rd, Boston, MA 02119
Trauma Stewardship Program
Jane Doe Inc. (JDI) invites you to participate in a program that will explore self reflection, individual discovery and recognize ways to best support yourself while supporting others. Registration ends May 6th, and costs $50 per person for JDI member programs, and $75 per person for allied organizations. There are 2 different dates and locations for this fantastic workshop with Laura van Dernoot Lipsy: an internationally known trauma worker.

Click here to learn more about the event and how to register!

1st Session:
When: Wednesday May 11, 9am-4pm
Where: Marriott Hotel in Springield

2nd Session:
When:Thursday May 12, 9am-4pm
Where: MCLE in Boston
Free Course for Early Educators
Are you interested in familiarizing yourself with the new MA Pre-K and K Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Approaches to Play and Learning (APL)? Attend this free interactive course for an overview of these two standards! In addition to attendance of this ten-hour introductory course, participants will be required to complete a homework assignment, an assessment of learning and an evaluation form. CEU and PDP certificates will be provided after all course requirements are completed.

For more information on how to register, email or call Clarence Little at 781-664-3981 

When: Thursday May 5, 9:30-12:30 pm
Thursday May 12, 9:30-12:30pm
Thursday May 26, 9:30-1:30pm
Where: Boys and Girls Club - 1135 Dorchester Ave. Dorchester, MA 02125
9th Annual Haitian Heritage Month
Celebrate Haitian culture and the powerful contribution of Haitians and Haitian-Americans in Boston and in Massachusetts this month with tons of great events in and around Boston. All Haitians and friends of Haiti are invited to join in the Heritage Celebration.

Haitian Televised Dialogue: "Our Schools Our Future"with BPS Superintendent Dr. Tommy Chang
When: Sunday May 1st, 4:00pm
Where: Bruce Bolling Building - 2300 Washington St. Roxbury, MA

Kick-off Ceremony with Mayor Martin Walsh
When: Monday May 2nd, 5:00pm-8:00pm
Where: Kay Pam - 6 Livingstone St. Dorchester, MA

Celebration of Haitian art, food, music, and culture
When: Friday May 6th, 12:00-2:30pm
Where: Catholic Charities Haitian Multi-Service Center - 185 Columbia Road Hall in Dorchester, MA 02121. 

16th Annual Haitian American Unity Parade
When: Sunday May 15th, starting at 1:00pm
Where: Mattapan Square / Blue Hill Ave
Research: Research
A study released this year worked to identify mechanisms that set children on a path toward achieving positive school performance and education outcomes. As we know, these mechanisms have implications for socioeconomic  well-being and health across the life-course.
By examining population-based data from multiple sectors, they found family risk factors to be the key driver of academic school readiness. This being so, "the biggest impact on early childhood development may come from interventions and policies that support communities and the families that live in them."

Click here  to read the full article!
Too ls:Tools
If you have attended a Vital Village meeting in the past, you will likely have seen and/or responded to one of our Rapid Feedback Forms **. We use these forms as a low-lift way to gauge meeting success, to learn how you received the meeting, and to keep improving. Learn about the data we've collected from our Rapid Feedback Forms in the "Scoop on Stats" section below! 










** Hayes, H., Scott, V.C., Scaccia, J. P. Abraczinskas, M., Stout, S., & Wandersman, A. (under revision) A Multi-method approach to training evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning
The Scoop on Stats:stats
staying up to date with data measurement!
 
Network Connection Meeting Rapid Feedback Forms 
As outlined in the "Tools" section of the newsletter above, Vital Village employs Rapid Feedback Forms as an easy, quick measurable way to evaluate our meetings. The form is passed out at the end of each meeting, and asks attendees to rate the meeting from 1 to 5 (1 being "none" and 5 being "a great deal") on three factors: knowledge gained, quality of content, and practical application. Over the past eight months, we have collected feedback, and comparatively analyzed aggregate ratings between months. As illustrated in the above bar graph, the February Network meeting proved most successful across all measures, which we attribute to that meeting's meaningful conversations around trauma, and collaborative planning for a data dashboard. The Rapid Feedback Form  closes with a final prompt: "what is one thing you intend to do as a result of this meeting?" The above word cloud contains words used in responses to the question, in which the size of each word indicates its frequency. What are your methods of assessing meeting quality? How can we change the way we think about measuring quality improvement to make data collection even easier for ourselves?
VITAL VILLAGE NETWORK
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88 East Newton St. · Vose Hall, 5th Floor ·  Boston, MA · vitalvillage@bmc.org · 617.414.3674