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!

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On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Who Do We Need To Become For Our Children’s Sake?

Sonia M. Toledo No Comments

How often do we take the time to focus on ourselves? Focus on our dreams, visions, and desires… Unless we are intentional about creating the life we want, we will not take the time to develop our emotional intelligence to match our personal passions in life. Not minding your own emotional intelligence can create havoc and upset with the people closest to you, especially with your children. Our role in the youth development world is to develop our children’s social and emotional capac...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Staff Leadership and Management

Youth Development Showdown: Nature vs. Technology

Carlos Santini No Comments

Take a moment to reflect on the last time you went on a hike, a camping trip, or any other type of outdoor experience. What was your mindset? How would you compare your attitude and outlook to your typical 9-to-5 self? I would bet there’s a stark difference. I experience this consistently with my two girls. The last time around was a Spring Break trip to Mammoth Lakes, a mountain town nestled in the Eastern Sierras. As much as my family loves the outdoors, my kids are not immune to their own 9-t...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality

Modeling Social-Emotional Skills To Support Kids’ Growth

Tamara Fyke No Comments

Over the past year, I have talked with dozens of educators and community leaders about their goals for social-emotional learning (SEL), which I define as identifying what is going on in our heads and in our hearts so we can use our hands to build up, rather than tear down. What I hear most often is the need to build adults’ capacity for SEL. Having worked in education and community programs for two decades, I have seen the pendulum swing from the focus on SEL (previously referred to as character...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Funding Youth Philanthropy (Webinar #3)

Julie Markland No Comments

In 2018, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partnered to host a free 4-part webinar series designed to support next-gen leadership and giving.                      The third webinar, “Funding Youth Philanthropy,” explored recent findings on how funders choose to support youth philanthropy programming. Featured speakers included research faculty and students from the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, as well as Foundation Cente...Read More

Apologies Apologies
On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships

Apologies

Tiana Brown No Comments

When you ask a young person to apologize, they often scowl at you with an attitude. They may glare at you and roughly say,” Why should I apologize, I didn’t do anything wrong.” We all know that owning our mistakes is not only a challenge for children but for adults as well. Apprehension to apologizing relates to our fear of permanently ruining our public self-image. Surprisingly, avoiding owning our slip-ups can backfire on us. We all make mistakes, but it is crucial to teach children how to res...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality

Helping Students Learn by Giving (Webinar #2)

Julie Markland No Comments

In 2018, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partnered to host a free 4-part webinar series designed to support next-gen leadership and giving. Sessions featured national experts and IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy faculty and students sharing research, resources, and examples of classroom-based grantmaking programs.              The second webinar, “Helping Students Learn by Giving,” addressed the need for informed, skil...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Engage, Ask, And Listen

Kristin Stayer 1 Comment

If I were sitting in person with you right now, I could ask either: Do you like open-ended questions? OR What power do open-ended questions have in the classroom? Which would guide us towards a more meaningful conversation? You guessed it 😊–  the second one! Ok, so that was easy! Knowing the difference between a closed or open-ended question is the simple part but the intentionality and practice can be more complex. I have personally seen the power of open-ended questions with my four-year...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management / Storytellers

The Student and The Teacher

Diego Arancibia 1 Comment

For the past year and half, our team has been working to transform the organizational culture of large educational systems. Though deep and profound as a sentence, we have found that this transformation essentially begins with oneself.  Simple to say and write.  A lifetime to do and practice.  And yet many times we are often asked, “This is great stuff…. But when are we going to get to the real work?”  The Personal Mastery needed to lead and transform large educational systems (especially instit...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

The Cutting Edge of Youth Learning and Development: Six Things You Should Know and Three Things You Should Do

Jeff Davis No Comments

Four years ago, I wrote a blog post for the BOOST Café titled, Positive Youth Development, an Idea Whose Time Has Come…. Again and Again. The blog highlighted that new research on Grit, Growth Mindset and Social Emotional Learning supported what we in the out-of-school time field have known for a long time. Four years later, the most recent research, once again, supports the importance of a foundation of program quality grounded in Positive Youth Development. A groundbreaking new report recently...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management / Storytellers

Reliving The Past (In A Good Way)!

Carlos Santini No Comments

If you’ve ever listened to the Hamilton musical soundtrack, or you had the unique opportunity of seeing the production for yourself, one of their best songs is Yorktown. It describes the battle of Yorktown in 1781; the battle that had the British wave the white flag in surrender! A line in the song reads, “And so the American experiment begins, with my friends all scattered to the winds…” In the Summer of 2016, I was playing that song multiple times a day. Why? As a member of the After-Sch...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

The Need For Green!

Brad Lupien No Comments

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, follow a trail, ride a bike, go boating, connect with the past, plant a seed, and – my favorite – ca...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality

2 Terrific Tips on Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) For Adults

Zach Wilson No Comments

  This blog is about SEL for adults, exploring why and how we must practice SEL in our collective work, both in and out of school. I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence. I asked my close colleague, who sits just across from me in the office, what I should write about in this next blog.  Understanding my ongoing, organic theme about creating conditions for youth voice and choice, he suggested I write about the competencies within us that allow for this to happen. I was intrigued ...Read More