December Monthly Updates 2023

Quality Process Updates

A HUGE Congratulations to all our academies who have completed their Data Collection as well as those who completed both the Data Collection and Academy Assessment. For those who are distinguished and require a quality visit, we are providing both a quality review checklist and review guide.

Quality Review Observation Checklist

Quality Review Guide

2-Page Quality Review Overview (condensed version for academies)

If your academy(ies) needs support completing the Data Center or Academy Assessment, please reach out to your portfolio manager or email support@naf.org


Customized WBL Tracker Activity Emails

We are excited to let you know that, starting December 11th, you will begin receiving personalized and customized reports about the Work-Based Learning activities for the academies with which you are connected. Each month, we will send this monthly summary with key metrics collected from your entry of activities in the WBL Participation Tracker (in ASH) which will highlight your academy’s progress in work-based learning.  We hope these emails will help you track on the exciting activities happening with your students as well as set goals for continued development of your Work-Based Learning Plan.


Work-Based Learning’s Resources and Updates

WBL Impact Program – 2 ways to win prizes for implementing WBL Activities

Through the Work-Based Learning Impact Program, supported by American Express, NAF will be recognizing ODWBL-aligned, creative, impactful WBL activities in 2 ways.

WBL Impact Award - Recognizes educators, WBL coordinators, and academy leads for excellence in implementing a Career Awareness/Exploration activity. 3 finalists will be selected per term (Fall 2023 submission deadline: January 22, 2024 and Spring 2024 submission deadline: May 1, 2024) and 1 overall winner will be selected. You may submit 1 activity per term.

Visit the WBL Impact Award site in ASH for additional information, including the entry link, sample submission form, judging rubric, information session recording and slide deck, and more!

Student Impact Competition – NAF students will design, implement, and assess a Career Awareness/Exploration activity in their academy, with support from an educator (Advisory Board member participation is optional but encouraged). Students must implement their activity and submit the entry form by May 1, 2024. Share the official competition site and overview video with your students!


Curriculum & Instruction

Celebrate Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 4-10 and beyond with these activities:

NAF’s Hour of Code activity, Code your Brand: Make a Logo, is now live! Students can further develop their professional brand by leveraging AI to create a logo they can use in a portfolio, resume, and more! Students can submit their projects here for a chance to win a $50 gift card.

Make Beats & Learn Code with EarSketch and Georgia Tech University! Bring your class and code beats to celebrate hip-hop, salsa, or the holidays. Check out all of their CSEdWeek activities here.

Join Black Girls Code for their Build a Beat Challenge and learn to create your own music in the Python programming language. Submit your song to win tech prizes and a call with Ciara.

Learn about the history of Hip Hop, coding music, and careers related to this genre in our NAF Expedition: 50 Years of Hip-Hop, developed with EarSketch and Georgia Tech University! There’s something for everyone in this authentic learning project!

There is still time to innovate and submit projects to NFTE’s World Series of Innovation challenges. Learn more and submit your projects by December 15th. The top three ideas in each challenge category win cash prizes!

Funding for Students

Amazon Future Engineer is awarding scholarships of up to $40,000 (up to $10,000/year) towards an undergraduate degree in engineering or computer science and an offer to complete a summer internship at Amazon! Applications are now OPEN and will close on December 15 at 4 PM EST.


Alumni

You can find brand new pages about the alumni experience on naf.org. Want to learn more about the free NAF Alumni Network and the benefits it can offer your students and alumni? Visit https://naf.org/alumni/ or contact Susan Climan, Manager, Alumni Engagement, at scliman@naf.org.


NAF Banners

NAF is leaning into the holiday season with gifting our academies across the country with banners!

In stock we have the following banners:

General

Model

Distinguished

All banners are from the years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. If interested, please fill out the form below to provide our Marketing & Communications team with the best shipping address for your request. They'll then be in touch with what was shipped along with tracking information.  

NAF Banner Sign-Up

Please note these requests will be filled on a first come, first served basis.


Fleischer Student Wallet Challenge

NAF has collaborated with the Fleischer Scholars program to provide students with the necessary tools and resources to easily find scholarships. Student Wallet is a platform that brings together numerous scholarship opportunities. Your academy has the opportunity to join The Scholarship RACE, a fun contest where the academy with the highest number of scholarships applied for through Student Wallet will win $5,000! The Race kicks off on December 1 and goes through March 1. Learn more.


Need Help? Reach out to the Solutions Center!

Need technical support? Get that support in one of three ways:

Email support@naf.org for assistance with technical issues. For quick resolutions, please include Academy ID. Screenshots are also helpful for reference when experiencing a technical issue.

Find the ? button on the bottom right screen of any Academy Support Hub (ASH) page and submit a ticket for help or to schedule office hours for training and extended support.

In Academy Support Hub (ASH), click on Learning Center, then on Academy Practices. Search knowledge base articles for help on your issue.