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 BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Understanding Our Impact: How The Smallest Things Can Ignite The Most Lasting Memories
I’ve been doing a lot of trainings around Social Emotional Leadership recently, which I love so much. Tapping in to the “softer” side of our leadership seems more important now than it ever was before. In my trainings I’m known to use this quote from Douglas Conant, formerly of Campbell Soup, who says: “Even a brief interaction can change the way people think about themselves, their leaders, and the future. Each of those many connections you make has the potential to become a high point or a low...Read More
Where the Rubber Meets the Road- Planning a Successful Afterschool Activity
Building on the concept that the most productive learning comes through active involvement, the effectiveness of any program that seeks to develop skills in youth must be rich in activity. Remember, most of the students sit for almost 7.5 hours a day! They are eager to be involved in activities that allow for action and interaction. Enthusiasm is contagious and movement essential. You do not need a repertoire of several hundred activities. Such a large selection is simply not practical and, more...Read More
Recovery – Coming Back from Being Down
Recently I recovered from a pretty intense back injury. I have accelerated degeneration in the discs of my upper back and lower spine areas. The injury prevented me from exercising for over two years. I consider myself a strong athlete and competitor in many sports. The news of my injury was hard to digest and felt terrible. When I incurred the injury, I was not only physically impaired but something happened to me mentally as well —my confidence went downhill. I had a lot of recovery work to do...Read More
Funding childcare supports women
Becoming a new mom during a global pandemic has built resilience, patience, and a reckoning. A reckoning with the lack of societal and government support of children and families. A learning that as a result of the pandemic, women are having to make some tough decisions… ones that we’ve been making for decades, but with an added layer of fear. In the U.S., over 2.3 million women have left the labor force since the start of the pandemic, as shown in research done by The Women’s National Law...Read More
The Year without Hugs
2020 began with a shock for me. I learned that Mary Jo Ginty had died in her sleep December 29, 2019. A month later, I was among the friends and family who gathered in Long Beach to celebrate her life. I was grateful to be in a room with others who loved her. We shared our grief, our treasured memories, and a lot of hugs. My friend Michael Funk shared a story about how Mary Jo was not a hugger. She doled out hugs frugally. You had to earn them. I never got one, but I know she loved me as much as...Read More
Knitting Connections
This last year has shown us how important relationships are in every aspect of our lives, from walking by someone’s desk on the way to the bathroom to meeting up with friends at a local brewery. We are all missing the social connections that relationships provide. But, I, for one, have liked the time away from the busy-ness and from social events – it has given me time to myself to focus on other things, like KNITTING! Granted, I haven’t made anything more substantial than a scarf, but I l...Read More
Pathways to Wellness: Reflections on the Core Value of Creativity
Over the past year of pandemic living I’ve revisited core values as reminders of what to do, what to say, where to go, when the going gets rough. By stepping one foot after the next into curiosity and connection, I have experienced the benefit of these bedrocks, when the topsoil feels shaky with uncertainty. Rounding out my top three core values is creativity – the positive, generative energy that flows within and around us, and offers opportunities for healing throughout. As an admirer of...Read More
Let’s amplify the voice of the expanded learning workforce
When the majority of schools in 2020-21 were closed for in-person learning, who has answered the call? The expanded learning workforce. Some staff at afterschool, summer, and out-of-school-time programs provided supervision and support to children of essential workers and other vulnerable children. Others stepped up to meet families’ basic needs, including meals, technology for distance learning, and referrals to language translation and free COVID-19 testing. Some found missing students and foc...Read More
Be Like Spring
Ah!! I love spring. Everything has gotten so green, just in the last week, and suddenly buds are bursting out of the ground and off of the branches. The grass is growing like crazy. Morning birds welcome us with their non-stop melodies. The days are lighter longer. Windows are open. Fruit and Veggie aisles are more abundant. Sidewalks and playgrounds have come back to life after a dormant winter. The kids have already had multiple splinters and skinned knees. This spring feels even more relievin...Read More
Evergreen Learning Principles for Afterschool Programs
The Learning in Afterschool & Summer (LIAS) project was designed to unify the field of afterschool and focus the movement on promoting young people’s learning. If afterschool programs are to achieve their full potential, they must be known as important places of learning that excite young people in the building of new skills, the discovery of new interests, and opportunities to achieve a sense of mastery. “We spend so much time focused on ‘achievement’ and so little time fo...Read More
Meet our 2021 Presenting Organizations
The BOOST Conference is pleased to collaborate with the following organizations to host the 2021 Virtual BOOST Conference, April 27-30. We look forward to “seeing” you online to connect, learn, and network with the BOOST Community. Registration ends April 15th. www.boostconference.org #iAmImpact 1Core Solution A World Fit for Kids Accelerate Learning (STEMScopes) After-School All-Stars Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Guru Afterschool Publishing Alliance for a Healthier Generation American Insti...Read More
Get ready for BOOST with the BLT!
This year’s Virtual BOOST Conference may look different than years past, but it’s still full of the fun, energy, and love you’ve come to expect at BOOST. Hear directly from the BOOST Leadership Team about what they’re looking forward to this year, and register to join us April 27-30 for a totally unique BOOST Conference experience! “As someone who has been a participant of the BOOST Conference to being able to lead my own Inspiration Station another year, I am so ex...Read More