Newsletter Season Greetings | December 17, 2025
Season’s Greetings!
As we wrap up 2025, we are filled with gratitude for our community that makes what we do possible. Before we all get lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we wanted to share just a few of our accomplishments that we feel especially proud of. None of this would be possible without the support of all of you. Thank you for being a part of our story. We look forward to what 2026 has in store.
Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a very happy new year!
Megan, LaRon, Cary, Nicole, Lavone, Sam and Nik
OPS Partnership- Communities in Schools and Next Level Learning Success
Collective for Youth continued to strengthen our partnership with Omaha Public Schools and participated again in the Communities in Schools Training Initiative. CFY and many of our partners provided project-based learning opportunities to students in kindergarten through 2nd grade while teachers participated in literacy instruction professional development.
CFY also partnered with 17 OPS Next Level Learning (summer school) sites to provide high quality instruction and enrichment opportunities to over 4,000 students. In surveys, students and care givers noted field trips specifically as positive experiences for students and as something of which they’d love to see more.
Data
CFY remained committed to the staff of our network, highlighted by fall professional development feedback surveys and the staff survey results. Almost 90% of staff reported receiving regular coaching and feedback, an increase from the previous year. CFY staff also collect feedback after every training and professional development offering. Attendees reported being very satisfied with all offerings, regardless of training type or role within the network (part-time site staff to program providers to program managers/directors). CFY provides training to a wide range of individuals with varied experience. It is a testament to the trainers and high quality content that the majority of individuals, regardless of past experience or knowledge, reporting finding value in offerings.
Our Advocacy Work
Collective for Youth and our partners led a critical statewide advocacy campaign to secure the restoration of federal funding (21st Century Community Learning Centers/Title IV-B) for afterschool programs, emphasizing the vital role these programs play in supporting student success and keeping parents in the workforce. The message was amplified through extensive media outreach, resulting in 11 news articles, one of which being the New York Times, featuring Collective for Youth and our partners.
Funds Raised
This year, we secured over $400,000 in new external funding, demonstrating strong institutional confidence and financial health, which was immediately channeled to support continued expansion of Collective for Youth’s core work.
STEM
32 STEM Library Check Outs for Fall 2025, particularly highlighted by experiences encompassing an entire 8 week session and being able to be deployed in numerous grades—meaning high quality STEM experiences across an entire site!
The STEM Community of Practice featured various Guest Facilitators from STEM Providers in our Network, providing all who attended with hands-on engagement in their area of expertise to build comfortability, capability, and confidence in leading activities. This was the same result for the Fall STEM Skills Series as well with attendance being over 30 individuals from across the Network.
