Working Together for Children and Families: A Community Guide to Making the Most of Out-of-School Time

Outlines the MOST Initiative's approach to building a community-based, collaborative out-of-school time system in Boston, Chicago, and Seattle. Illustrates how each city interpreted the MOST process and provides a sampling of their activities

It's About Time: A Look at Out-of-School Time for Urban Teens

Investigates after-school opportunities and experiences for high school age youth in 21 U.S. cities, with a focus on Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, and Fort Worth. Includes a look at the steps necessary for building a citywide collaboration

/////// babaamiwizh – blood memory and how we carry ancestral histories /////// on memory, immersive theatre, improvisation, & absurdity

babaamiwizh – blood memory and how we carry intergenerational histories: a collection of fragmented stories and thoughts on making Indigenous art. These writings attempt to find the balance of an artist\u27s humanity, the artistic process and working with colonial institutions. I am stitching together my perspective on Indigeneity, museums and the process of repatriation, collaboration with trusted community members, as well as the land and its medicines

A Note About the Cover Art

A note about the cover art

Witches Among Us: Elizabeth George Speare\u27s Social Commentary on McCarthyism in \u3ci\u3eThe Witch of Blackbird Pond\u3c/i\u3e

A two-time Newbery Award winning author, Elizabeth George Speare has written four novels, one work on nonfiction, and several plays and magazine articles. Teachers, students, and parents remember Speare\u27s works of fiction because of their ability to bring history to life. In her work The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare writes about a young girl name Kit Tyler and her experiences with Puritans and witchcraft in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Speare describes the people and events of the novel in a memorable way that allows the reader to learn more about America in 1687 and Speare\u27s own commentary about her culture. When Speare wrote The Witch of Blackbird Pond in 1957, America had just endured Red Scare led by Senator Joe McCarthy. Just as the townspeople of Wethersfield feared witches, Americans feared Communists and the Soviet Union. The historical context in which Speare wrote The Witch of Blackbird Pond and the content o fthe novel suggest that Speare\u27s comments on America and McCarthyism

A Note About the Cover Art

MYVIEWOFTHEWORLDISOBSCUREDBYSTEELBARSOFINCARCERATION Artist: Anonymous Acrylics on card This artist’s work is the product of a process he engaged in, to develop a language to express himself as a means of coping with imprisonment. Aged in his mid-fifties and serving a sentence at the Midlands Prison, he engages with education and is determined that his first experience of prison will also be his last. He has adopted an approach regarding his sentence as an “art school” rather than a “prison” experience and his development is supported by contact with teachers and participation in art classes and exhibitions. He works in his cell, often painting on the back of discarded cereal boxes, demonstrating a resourcefulness typical of prison artists while this approach might also be interpreted as acknowledging the environment in which he functions. He had little experience of making art prior to his imprisonment, now he intends to continue painting following his release. Despite the bleak nature of the image, the painting contributes to an understanding of the role of education and the arts in prisons. The post-modern title supports an appreciation of the work as a cathartic expression of frustration and the artist’s working methods are of interest. After completing a painting he experiments with the left-over paint, exploring effects and new approaches to image making, extending his reach and growing his confidence. The work reflects something of that learning process, also the value he places on the limited materials available to him and his concern not to waste either the materials or the opportunity they represent. The human figure and by extension the human condition are central to his work. A distorted head, with references to steel bars and doors illuminated by yellow artificial light, is contrasted against a dark blue night sky, evoking the loneliness, isolation and confinement of the prison experience. It is the image of an everyman, representative of prisoners as a type, and the narrative communicates an extreme physical and emotional experience with graphic impact. This artist’s development is a positive outcome of the structures for education within the Irish Prison Service. In each prison, a school staffed by qualified teachers delivers second-chance education tailored to meet individual needs. The service works on a partnership model informed by the recommendations of the Council of Europe on education in prisons and prisoners engage and attend by choice. A broad curriculum is offered and workshops, part-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, are delivered by visiting artists and writers and a programme of exhibitions brings the creative work of prisoners to a wider audience in the community. The Irish Prison Education Service is adapting to meet the challenge of addressing the educational needs of people in custody within the restrictions imposed by Covid-19

Exploratory Growths of the Ternary 14-1-11 Family of Thermoelectric Zintl Phases Using a Self-Flux Method

Thermoelectric Zintl phases have the ability to convert waste heat into useful electrical energy, making them valuable in various energy harvesting applications. In these Zintl phases, a high zT (thermoelectric Figure of Merit) indicates more efficient thermoelectric properties. The technique used, a self-flux method, is implemented as a relatively simple way of synthesizing Zintl phases with a higher thermoelectric Figure of Merit. This method uses an excess of reactive flux element, which acts as both a component of the Zintl phase and a reaction medium, and two other elements that are incorporated into the material. The materials with higher melting points are placed at the bottom of a quartz glass ampoule. The materials with lower melting points act as the flux and are placed on top. The flux melts and incorporates the other elements, providing a liquid solution for the ternary reactions to take place. A stoichiometric ratio of 14-1-11 was used to attempt to grow unit crystals. Preliminary results suggest new materials of Ca14In1Sb11 and Ca14In1Bi11 have been grown, but further testing is required to confirm the results

Optimization of Optical and Mechanical Properties of Real Architecture for 3-Dimensional Tissue Equivalents: Towards Treatment of Limbal Epithelial Stem Cell Deficiency

Limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC) deficiency can cause blindness. Transplantation of cultured human limbal epithelial cells (hLE) on human amniotic membrane (HAM) can restore vision but clinical graft manufacture can be unreliable. We have developed a reliable and robust tissue equivalent (TE) alternative to HAM, Real Architecture for 3D Tissue (RAFT). Here, we aimed to optimize the optical and mechanical properties of RAFT TE for treatment of LESC deficiency in clinical application. The RAFT TE protocol is tunable; varying collagen concentration and volume produces differing RAFT TEs. These were compared with HAM samples taken from locations proximal and distal to the placental disc. Outcomes assessed were transparency, thickness, light transmission, tensile strength, ease of handling, degradation rates and suitability as substrate for hLE culture. Proximal HAM samples were thicker and stronger with poorer optical properties than distal HAM samples. RAFT TEs produced using higher amounts of collagen were thicker and stronger with poorer optical properties than those produced using lower amounts of collagen. The ‘optimal’ RAFT TE was thin, transparent but still handleable and was produced using 0.6 ml of 3 mg/ml collagen. Degradation rates of the ‘optimal’ RAFT TE and HAM were similar. hLE achieved confluency on ‘optimal’ RAFT TEs at comparable rates to HAM and cells expressed high levels of putative stem cell marker p63α. These findings support the use of RAFT TE for hLE transplantation towards treatment of LESC deficiency