NJSACC Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month. You can too. National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates and recognizes the contributions Hispanic Americans have made to American society and culture and to honor five of our Central American neighbors who celebrate their Independence days in September. Top National Hispanic Heritage Month Resources: 4 Crafts for National Hispanic Heritage Month 10 Inspiring Latinas Who’ve Made History A Month of Ideas for Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Hispanic Heritage Month Activities for…

⛈️Disaster Assistance Available for NJ Business and Private Nonprofits The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the availability of low-interest federal disaster loans for eligible small businesses and private nonprofit organizations impacted by excessive rain occurring May 1, 2025 – July 1, 2025. Eligible counties include: New Jersey: Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren New York: Orange Pennsylvania: Bucks, Monroe, Northampton and Pike We encourage you to share the attached flyer throughout your…

🎤 Built to Last. Ready to Rise. Bring Your Voice to NAA27 From March 14–17, 2027, over a thousand afterschool and youth development professionals will gather in Denver for NAA27. They’ll come from across the country and across the field — from direct-service professionals to system leaders — ready to connect with colleagues, strengthen their practice, and discover ideas they can take back to their programs and communities. We want NAA members like you to…

🔬 NEW DATA: Afterschool STEM Takes Off! A parent looking for an afterschool program wants a safe environment, caring staff, and engaging activities. Increasingly, that means activities that get their child building, coding, and asking questions about how things work, and afterschool programs have stepped up to meet that expectation by offering more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning experiences than ever before.   This America After 3PM special report, funded by Overdeck Family…

📅 The First Week Sets The Tone For The Whole Year To help you start strong, Hailee, Mizzen’s Community Engagement + Experiences Manager, curated a playlist of her favorite connection-building activities for grades K–12. Whether you’re welcoming a new group or reconnecting after summer break, these ready-to-use activities help youth build relationships before jumping into lessons and programming. Explore The Collection Inside, you’ll find activities for grades K–12 with a mix of no-prep and facilitated options, making…

Lights On Afterschool 101 – Wednesday, September 9, at 2 p.m. ET Lights On Afterschool is back for its 27th year, celebrating afterschool programs, students, and staff! Taking place this year on October 22, 2026, this nationwide event brings together more than 8,000 programs to showcase the important role afterschool plays in supporting youth, families, and communities. Like afterschool programs, Lights On Afterschool celebrations come in all shapes and sizes and don’t have to be huge to be…

🦸‍♀️ Bringing Together Youth Leaders, Advocates, and Changemakers for Learning, Connection, and Empowerment Welcome to the Youth Power Summit, an annual event hosted by the Institute where young people from all across New Jersey come together to imagine and build the world they deserve. Whether it’s mental health, immigration, housing or lowering the voting age, young people like you will spend the day learning the skills necessary to advocate and organize for issues that matter most to…

We Are Grateful to Have the Best People in Our Network of Afterschool Professionals Things people are saying about NJSACC “Wonderful experience and ways of looking at interactions. Ideas and insights were abundant” “I have learned so much during my time with you, I think I could do the job. My summer camp has benefited from my training with you. We have community time in the morning from 9:00am – 9:30am and I do games…

💰 Program Sites Can Win Up to $5,000 in this National AI Challenge from the Panasonic Foundation + STEM Next Do the young people in your afterschool program have ideas for using artificial intelligence to solve problems in their community or around the world? The AI Innovation Challenge, created by STEM Next Opportunity Fund in partnership with the Panasonic Foundation, gives high school youth the opportunity to explore those ideas while competing for prize funding…