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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Releasing the Giving Hangover
This post was originally published on December 21, 2017. It seemed like a good time to reflect on our giving habits and how we teach our youth to show up for their communities. It never failed. I would receive mountains of canned goods, dry goods, and cash from well-meaning donors before Christmas (always accompanied by copious amounts of cranberry jelly), but the season inevitably came: The Giving Hangover. Call it the Winter Blues, or the Post-Christmas Slump, or whatever, giving always droppe...Read More
Holiday Time!
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” Each time I hear that Christmas song, I wonder, “Is it really?” Nearly half of Americans sometimes or always feel alone. For some of us, the holiday season is a bittersweet mix of joy and grief. Maybe life didn’t go the way we expected because of disappointment, death, or divorce. I walked through a heart-wrenching divorce, and the effects of that split are felt by me and my kids every holiday. They share their time between me and their dad. For days,...Read More
Are We There Yet?
This is the question I get from the backseat on nearly every drive with my five and seven-year-old daughters. This is also the question I’ve found myself asking over and over for the last 19+ months, as I’ve tried to hold it all together. My kids have needed me more than ever, to comfort and care for them through the added challenges of the pandemic. We are privileged to be able to shield them from the harshest effects of the pandemic. Yet, I’ve struggled to give them the time and patience that ...Read More
Why I Cringe At The Word ‘Daycare’
Every weekday morning, I pick my 14-month-old daughter out of her crib, hold her tight and let her play with her mobile (that’s really just a wind chime). She closely examines the reflective stones and Bee figures, pulls on it, and then lets it wildly swing back-and-forth. This simple moment allows us a gentle minute to connect, feel each other’s energy and inject love into each other’s being. I think of it as the way I fill up my tank (…and hers) before the long day ahead. I’ve done...Read More
Catching Grit
Grit is defined on paper as “courage and resolve; strength of character.” My son, Oliver, turned 13 a few months ago and recently received an opportunity to demonstrate what it means in practice. He has played Irvine Pony League baseball since he was seven. I never asked him if he wanted to play. I signed him up because I wanted to share the experience with him. I threw him a thousand pitches in the park before he ever played his first game. He started in 2016, playing at the “Pinto Machine Pitc...Read More
8 Gun Violence Prevention Organizations You Need To Know
AP Photo/John Minchillo This week BOOST Collaborative will be joined by The Alliance for Gun Responsibility for the FREE online training, Beyond Parkland: An Equitable Lens to Youth and Gun Violence. We will dive deep into the types of gun violence related to America’s youth, emphasizing communities most vulnerable, what solutions exist to combat this public health crisis, and how young people can emerge as gun violence prevention leaders. Gun violence has become an epidemic in the United States...Read More
5 Ways to Use BOOST Cafe for Professional Development
We thought it was a good time to re-share about BOOST Cafe and how you can use it to BOOST your professional development! Since its launch, we have added some incredible new resources! Check out the FREE online learning opportunities Need resources to reconnect with yourself, look no further than the Virtual Calming Room Find FREE e-BOOST downloads to use with your staff, youth, and communities Make someone’s day and send them a BOOST E-Card Want to explore BOOST Cafe further, then fill ou...Read More
Should Everyone Get a Trophy?
When I was a kid, the winning team took home the trophy, and the MVP got the medal. That was that. When my kids were growing up, everyone got a trophy. There was no MVP because they all succeeded and did their best. I see the value of both, especially when you’re talking about young children. There should never be losers when you work in the nonprofit sector, especially with kids, because all kids win when everyone gets the trophy. Here’s why. This past summer, our organization formed a strate...Read More
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 the end, I fixed my sights on June 15, 2021, the date our governor said business was “getting back t...Read More
Hanging in the BOOST Live Podcast Lounge
My drive to work definitely changed this year. With my kids Zooming from home, I was all alone on the daily commute—no need for our “Drive to School” playlist, seasonal playlist, or our Disney sing-a-long. I took the opportunity to use my car time to wisely—PODCASTS. Over the past year I delved into the stock market with Snacks Daily (okay, I did originally think the podcast was about snacks – not snack size stock tips – but hey, it’s still a good podcast). I improved my running tech...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
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