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Author: Brad Lupien
A Little Bit of Normal Please
This morning I continued my push for health and wellness by skipping the pancakes and opting instead for yogurt and berries for breakfast. Speaking of the push for health and wellness … I was a conscientious mask-wearer for the entire duration of COVID-19 in California, never wavering in my support for the shutdown or the mask mandate, or any of the other guidelines. Though I got impatient toward ...
A Call to Action – Let’s not forget our Older Youth
This morning I had coffee and a celery-green apple-turmeric smoothie (my wife is trying to keep us healthy) for breakfast. Perhaps it did not provide the proper amount of sweetness to boost my mood, but perhaps it was just the kind of medicine I needed to say the following. We need to think about our priorities. We need to focus on older youth. The field of education, after school, and beyond is c...
What the COVID-19 Crisis Has Taught Us
I just finished my spinach smoothie for breakfast and am reflecting on how we all work hard these days to stay healthy and sane. My wife makes me spinach smoothies to start the day, and I drink them, though I don’t like them, because they are promising—hopeful for good health and energy. We need both, especially in these trying times of global pandemic, social distancing, and online learning. Frid...
All The Single Moms
What did I have for breakfast today? I think I finished the kids’ Honey Nut Cheerios and must have downed some coffee. I can’t recall though, because I am losing my mind. My wife has been out of town on a work trip for two weeks and I am trying to hold down the fort as a single dad. I am running a zone defense and I am privileged enough to have the support of a part-time nanny… and still, I ...
The Need For Green!
I had scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage for breakfast this morning. I never do that. I am now nursing a stomach ache! Maybe I should have gone with something greener. And… there is my blog topic! The need for Green! Did you know that California has a Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights? It states that every child has a right to play in a safe place, explore nature, learn to swim, go fishing, ...
How One Kid Can Change How I View The Country Today?
This morning I enjoyed two, over-easy, eggs, a blueberry muffin, hash browns, and a coffee. I never eat that much for breakfast but happened to have had at a meeting at a great, local, joint. I have struggled with what to blog about this fall. There is so much going on in our country. Elected officials are at war. Politicians are yelling over each other vs listening. Anger. Fear. You would think ...
10 Reasons Why You Should Thank Your After School Professional!
It is spring break for my own kids, so breakfast consisted of me cooking pancakes to order for two kids and eggs to order for two more. I ate the leftovers…again! Today I want to use this forum to say thank you to all of you Site Coordinators and Program Leaders. We all know the big things you do. Regardless of what organization you are in, what age young people you serve, or where in the countr...
The Role and Vision of a CEO from a CEO
I have a lot of breakfast meetings these days, the hardest kinds of meetings. Not the kind where I get excited about pitching a program to a new client or get to brainstorm curriculum and advocate for youth. Those meetings I love. No, lately my days are filled with meetings wherein I talk—or, more often, listen– to people expressing real fear and vulnerability about their present and future....
The Soul of Out-of-School Time
In his article titled “The Neoliberal Arts: How college sold its soul to the market,” (Harper’s Magazine, September 2015) William Deresiewicz argues that “College is seldom about thinking or learning anymore… The purpose of education in a neoliberal age is to produce producers.” He goes on to state, “Everybody talks about the STEM fields — science, technol...
My Why: Closing the Opportunity Gap
I am driven by creating opportunities for young people, for closing the opportunity gap. I look at what elite private schools offer their young learners and then create, adjust, finagle, and hustle to try and ensure that students from less affluent public schools get the same chances to try new things. If a $25,000/year private school takes their Juniors snorkeling and kayaking, we need to offer t...
The Dynamic of Partnership in Out of School Time Work
The interesting part of the morning was less the food than the discussion. If you have ever tried to talk with two little kids at the same time you understand how conversations can spin rapidly to amazingly unique subjects. As my Jonah and Sydney left for camp, I reflected that the OST field often feels just like the conversation I just finished with them. Dialogue in the OST field is fast, ever-c...
Celebrating Learning Opportunities in the Out-of-School Time Field
I woke up today, and while I was eating my English muffin, having coffee, and waiting for my own kids to finish getting ready for pre-school, I saw a Facebook post by an old friend from high school who is now a sixth-grade teacher. The post displayed a note on a white board, written by a student, and it read, “Mr. G is the best teacher ever!” In a time when there is so much discussion ...