For those of you planning to attend the National AfterSchool Association convention later this month in Texas, please see the invitation below. Casi, Erin, and I will be there as well. We hope to see many of you! Karen ------------- Dear Colleagues, I'm delighted to invite you to join us Tuesday, March 20 from 7:45-8:45am in the Inman Room at the NAA Convention for a special meetup to discuss all things STEM and afterschool! As afterschool STEM grows ever more sophisticated, we have a unique opportunity to network and reflect on where we are and what needs to happen next. We are lucky to have Dennis Schatz from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) join us at this meetup. Dennis is currently the Informal Science Director on the NSTA Board of Directors and is the incoming President of NSTA. He is also the Field Editor of Connected Science Learning, an online journal of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC). Dennis has a deep passion for informal STEM learning and is looking to grow a deeper relationship between NSTA and afterschool. This is a great chance for us to talk directly with him and discuss how partnerships and collaborations between afterschool providers and science teachers could be strengthened. As some of may know, I left the Afterschool Alliance last year and moved to the UK. But I never lost my love for afterschool STEM and am so happy to be on the NAA Board. I'm coming back for the convention and look forward to seeing you there. I really hope you can come to this meetup so we can catch up and continue to plot about how we keep advancing afterschool STEM! Please save this info for our meet-up: NAA STEM Meet Up Tuesday, March 20 7:45am – 8:45am Location: Inman Room (Atlanta Conference Level – near breakouts) Bring your coffee & breakfast to this engaging conversation. Hope to see you there! Best wishes, Anita --- Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi Special Adviser, Public Engagement team Office of External Affairs and Communications University of Cambridge The Old Schools Cambridge, CB2 1TN