Breakfast Club Blog

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Enjoy the brain food.

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!

Interested in becoming a blogger? Email [email protected]

Click here to Register for a free account or click here to Login to your existing account.

Know a teen who’s social media savvy? Seeking High School Brand Ambassadors: College Board (SAT) Instagram Campaign + More!

Motivate Youth has launched an amazing campaign to promote college test prep, and has an exciting opportunity for high school students! Motivate is assembling a team of amazing teens to be High School Brand Ambassadors to mobilize an Instagram campaign promoting SAT test prep and a $10,000 sweepstakes giveaway. If you know a teen who is active on social media and loves creating and sharing Instagram content, Motivate Youth wants to hear from them! Share this application link with any high school...Read More

Right Nows: How Are You Coping In The Face Of Tragedy?

Last month was the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. I’ve been thinking about it, obviously, and my experience living in New York City during that time.  In the last two months, Floridians have been recovering from Hurricane Irma, Puerto Rico is completely devastated from Irma, and Texans are trying to recover from Hurricane Harvey. Mexico is trying to deal with the aftermath of the strongest earthquake to hit that country in a century, as well as their own Hurricane Kat...Read More

My Why: Hope Dealers – A Mission for Change

I got hooked on after school programs in 1992 while working as an art teacher in Hartford, CT. The old, rundown brick-faced school sat in the middle of an urban jungle. The hallways were dingy, there was no grass, only a cement parking lot that was used for “recess,” and many of the bathroom stalls were missing doors. It lacked promise to say the least. My immediate thoughts when I started this job were of sadness. Where was the equity in all of this? Despite previously working with ...Read More

Part 2: The Great ASES Augmentation of 2017 – A Children’s Story

In 2015, Sir Mark Leno from the village of San Francisco introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. By now, the full resources of CA3 were focused on the issue, but that still amounted to very little in comparison to the magnitude of the quest. The Partnership for Children and Youth, a longtime member of CA3 led by Lady Jennifer of Peck, was called upon to lead the campaign and she assigned her most renowned policy warrior to the task, Jessica Gunderson the Tenacious. The gr...Read More

Part 1: The Great ASES Augmentation of 2017 – A Children’s Story

Gather around, children, and I’ll tell you a story. What kind of story, you ask? Is it a scary story? Is it a funny story? A magical story? No. It’s better than that. It’s the best kind of story there is. It’s a story about policy change. ASES to be exact. Our story begins way back in the year 2006. Do any of you remember that year? Some of you may have been quite young. A traveling minstrel named Justin Timberlake performed a song called SexyBack. Children were introduced to a delightful talkin...Read More

The Music of Life:  An Ode to the World

I was thinking recently about how two of my favorite sounds in the world are completely different. The first is the sound of birds singing and chirping—particularly the spring birds in the early morning. The second is the sound of an Indy race car as it speeds around the track. I love both of these sounds so much. Yet one is so gentle and the other is so strong. It seems like they should be in opposition to each other. But in reality I think they are examples of the stunning beauty of this world...Read More

Commencement

On behalf of the BOOST Breakfast Club, congratulations to all the graduates across the nation in 2017! This post from @erikap is so beautiful and well written, we wanted to #repost this heartfelt message. We believe the message is universal. Enjoy! As spring has officially given way to summer and academics have been replaced by pools and bike rides, I’ve been thinking about commencement speeches. Students across the country have been hearing them, whether graduating from high school or col...Read More

Keep The Channel Open

I’ve been sitting in contemplation of this quote by dancer/choreographer Martha Graham for a few weeks now: “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with...Read More

How to Talk with Kids About Grades

Whether kids tend to earn A’s, B’s, C’s, or F’s, kids often define “who they are” based on the grades they receive. “I’m an A-student.” “I’m not very smart.” “I’m an average student.” Unfortunately, when kids label themselves based on grades, it can have a negative impact on their self-esteem — even for “A-students.” If they bring home an A, they feel great about themselves. If they bring home a C, they get down on themselves. Creeper picture of a dude’s shadow and face Creeper picture of ...Read More

My Moments at BOOST that Left Me Wanting More

We recently asked our BOOST Leadership and Blogging Teams to share their favorite memory and why they volunteer to be a team member of the BOOST Conference. Perhaps you will be a volunteer, Ambassador or Breakfast Club Blogger for BOOST in 2018. Enjoy! Definitely the very first time I attended the BOOST Conference. The energy was through the roof and everyone was so eager to work together. I’ve been back every year since. – Daniel W. Hatcher, MPH | Director, Community Partnerships, Allianc...Read More

Finding Some Extraordinary In Your Ordinary

What does it mean to find the extraordinary within the ordinary? One of my favorite quotes is by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (author of The Little Prince, among others), where he says: “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” Are you someone who sees rock piles, or do you see cathedrals? To find the extraordinary within the ordinary, you have to see it. And to see it, you have to look for it. And to look...Read More

A Journey of Self-Discovery

The students in our programs come from diverse backgrounds and face unique challenges in navigating the world they are growing up in. It is a privilege to be their guide in this journey called life. Many of the students we have in our programs are having experiences that may be similar to the staff working in our programs. The true challenge is being able to create an environment that supports the staff and students to feel emotionally and physically safe and not just survive but thrive in spite...Read More