I’m only at the cusp of this thing, this elusive thing called “family communication”. My kids are just 5 and 8, but already—already!—I can see the need for intentional and thoughtful strategies to encourage and maintain open lines of communication. I recognize how important it is to set up a safe and open line of communication with my children now so that they can rely on it later. The following list is a mash up of things we’ve just organically tried and things that the ...Read More

What is after-school you ask? It’s an answer 14 years in the making, although the recipe was already baking long before I came on the scene! After-school is a THING! Not a time in the day where you play, Bring out some board games And close out the day. After-school is a thing to be seen. Something to look back on and say, “Remember when…,” With a tear in your soul. Not a timesheet to track, Or a paycheck to hold! After-school is a thing that happens to you, Transforming ...Read More

Asia Society and BOOST Collaborative are partnering to create a series of blogs on global learning in out-of-school time. This blog entry was originally published on EdWeek’s Global Learning Blog. This piece is written by Muslima Niyozmamadova, a high school student at Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa in Kenya. Global citizenship means an awareness of the issues in my community as well as those faced by the world. My role as a global citizen is to promote positive change by trying to solve global...Read More

“We have to do right by our boys.” -President Obama After a week long conference for expanded learning professionals in Palm Springs, I’m reminded of how important my role is in the lives of our youth. The BOOST Conference is more than just a place to convene and exchange ideas, for many of us, it’s a time to reflect and recharge with close friends from the field. This year was no different. But this year, more than others, I was able to see myself outside of the work and...Read More

This blog was originally posted on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation Healthy Out-of-School Time Blog. The Best Out-of-School Time (BOOST) Conference is coming up, and this year I’m honored to once again co-present with Bruno Marchesi, Chief Operating Officer at the Center for Collaborative Solutions. We will be discussing Local, State, and National Perspectives on the Healthy Afterschool Movement. Prior to his role as COO, Bruno served as Project Manager for the Healthy Behaviors and...Read More

As I write this blog entry, I am driving back on a large charter bus with 50 high school students, after spending the last 3 days exploring the many adventures that the great city of Chicago has to offer. A high-energy experience filled with museums, college tours, tilting over the John Hancock Observatory, deep dish pizza, and even an evening swim. Throughout the last three days of this fun-filled journey, one of the great “reminders” that was stated every time we stepped off the bu...Read More

I have written a blog weekly for the past four years, and just about everything I write involves some version of convincing us to stop judging ourselves (and each other), forgiving ourselves for our imperfections, and just allowing ourselves to be fully who we are. That’s four years of saying: Hey, you! Yes, YOU! Did you know that you are amazing and awesome and unique? Can you show us a little more of your own amazing awesome uniqueness? I’m amazed that I, myself, need to continue t...Read More

Back in January I texted “Things just got real” to my supervisor. You see, I had been hearing about the current challenges with finding qualified staff from various people throughout the state of California but I personally hadn’t been impacted by it. Then things changed, we needed to put my youngest son in the fee-based after school program on his campus (not the program I work for). When I went in to sign him up they told me they would have to put him on the waiting list. Wha...Read More

When I was a kid, back in the late 1970’s and 80’s, we had two telephones in my house. One was upstairs and was a tabletop rotary phone, the other was a wall-mounted rotary phone with a super-long cord that you could get all tangled up in as you talked and walked as far as it would allow you to go before it would pull back at you just enough to remind you that you were about to pull the phone off the wall. Telephones then had just one function: voice calls. There were no fancy screen...Read More