25 Fabulous Enrichment Ideas & Where to Get More

Marisa Miller, Founder, Afterschool Publishing, Santa Barbara, CA; and Host, All Things Afterschool YouTube Channel, Santa Barbara, CA 

This is your time to remember what is it all about, having FUN with your children through intentional youth development! Get inspired and take your enrichment game to the next level as we explore a ton of fabulous ideas. We’ll also examine many low-cost and free resources to keep the fabulous ideas flowing once you are back home. A fast, interactive experience as you customize fabulous enrichment just right for your program!

Building Teamwork and Confidence through Physical Activity

Fred Rasuli, CEO; Anthony Malik, Director of Operations; Ryan Johnson, District Manager, TSP Afterschool Programs, Turlock, CA

This interactive workshop is designed to help students and staff develop teamwork and confidence through engaging physical activities. Participants will work together in various activities and group exercises, learning how to communicate effectively, support one another, and build trust. Along the way, they’ll boost their self-confidence and discover the power of collaboration in achieving shared goals. Join us for a fun and energetic session where sports and physical activity become the foundation for personal growth and stronger team dynamics!

Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate: Build Lasting Relationships in Your After-School Program

Dwayne Wiggins, Jr., MFA, Program Manager, College Town, Reality Changers, San Diego, CA; and Founder, A Human. Being!, San Diego, CA 

Join us for an engaging workshop designed to empower after-school staff with the tools and mindset to connect, collaborate, and celebrate within their programs. Participants will explore strategies for understanding commitment, fostering active participation, and building strong relationships with students, families, and the community. Enjoy fun interactions while setting meaningful goals to enhance your after-school environment and culture.

Facilitating After-school STEAM Workshops with KiwiCo

Emma Zang-Schwartz, MPH, Senior Manager, Education, KiwiCo Education, Mountain View, CA 

See what hands-on STEAM learning could look like in your program. This workshop will provide you with the tools, strategies, and resources needed to implement engaging STEAM activities that spark curiosity and creativity in students, all while keeping them unplugged. Participants will get to build along with us to see a sample of programming and learn best practices for keeping everyone engaged.

Supporting Neurodiverse Students: Building Equity, Access, and Belonging in Expanded Learning Spaces

Sylvia Mac, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Center for Embodied Equity and Neurodiversity (CEEN), University of San Diego (USD), San Diego, CA 

Expanded Learning programs play a powerful role in creating spaces where every student feels seen, supported, and capable of success. Yet, many traditional approaches to neurodiverse students still rely on deficit-based views of disability. This interactive session invites expanded learning professionals to reframe how they understand and respond to neurodiversity through an equity and access lens. Participants will explore the difference between the medical and social models of disability, examine how trauma and structural inequities shape which students are labeled or supported, and engage in hands-on strategy stations that center belonging, flexibility, and universal design. Attendees will leave with immediately usable practices to reduce barriers, shift language, and foster inclusive environments that work for all learners.

TK-Tastic Adventures: Learning to Play (and Playing to Learn!) with Our Youngest Learners

ElizaBeth Parker Phillips, M.A., M.S., Your TK Adventure Guide, Sacramento, CA 

Ever feel like your Transitional Kindergarten (TK) students are tiny, energetic, and curious little humans sent to teach you a whole new language? You’re not alone! Working with four-year-olds in an expanded learning setting is a delightful, yet unique, adventure.

Join us for a joyful, jam-packed session that will turn your TK program into a developmentally appropriate, standard-achieving wonderland! We’ll stop guessing and start knowing exactly what makes these little explorers tick. Come prepared to laugh, play, and leave feeling super-boosted to support the youngest members of your Expanded Learning family!

Sylvia Mac, Ph.D.

Associate Director of the Center for Embodied Equity and Neurodiversity (CEEN), University of San Diego, San Diego, CA

Sylvia Mac currently serves as Associate Director of the Center for Embodied Equity and Neurodiversity (CEEN) at the University of San Diego, where she oversees the CEEN’s research and publication initiatives.  An educational anthropologist and critical disability studies scholar, her work centers inclusive, trauma-informed, and justice-based approaches to learning. While teaching special education credential and graduate courses as tenured faculty at the University of La Verne, she also led campus-wide equity initiatives, faculty development in inclusive pedagogy, and participatory research projects amplifying the voices of disabled students in higher education. Dr. Mac earned her Ph.D. in Education (Social Foundations) at Oklahoma State University, in addition to a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Disability Studies from Syracuse University. A former special education teacher, she brings expertise from her experiences in a range of classrooms, from PK to high school, and from inclusive to self-contained settings.

Marisa Miller

Founder, Afterschool Publishing and Host, All Things Afterschool YouTube Channel, Santa Barbara, CA

Marisa Miller is passionate about supporting programs with high-quality staff development to bring forth the bright potential of every child through intentional, hands-on, high-interest activities. She has been a certificated teacher in a juvenile justice facility, co-founded schools for rural at-risk teens, program coordinator for a marine science center, program director for Girls Inc., and an ASES program supervisor. She has trained 1000s of afterschool staff and has written more than 200 programs for the afterschool environment. Founder of Afterschool Publishing, where she offers coaching, effective and practical PD, and custom enrichment and program design services, and host of All Things Afterschool, a YouTube Channel dedicated to helping people learn how to create high-quality afterschool programs.

ElizaBeth Parker Phillips, M.A., M.S.

Your TK Adventure Guide, Sacramento, CA

ElizaBeth Parker Phillips blends both her Master’s degree (Early Childcare Education and Therapeutic Recreation) to make every activity fun, supportive, and truly accessible. With over 30 years of experience as an architect of inclusive programming, ElizaBeth understands precisely how to take best practices and turn them into playful, high-quality experiences for all learners, especially in TK. She’s committed to program capacity building and equipping staff to be the everyday magic-makers. Fun Fact: ElizaBeth is obsessed with both candy and cats, which explains her love of running races—she’s constantly trying to outrun a bad diet and pet all your neighborhood cats! As a long-time Girl Scout Leader, she is highly skilled at organizing chaotic adventures and is always prepared with snacks, songs, and unbeatable enthusiasm. She is also a proud BOOST Leadership Team member. 

Dwayne Wiggins, Jr., MFA

Program Manager, College Town, Reality Changers, San Diego, CA; and Founder, A Human. Being!, San Diego, CA

Dwayne Wiggins, Jr. is a motivational coach and thought leader with a B.S. in Entertainment Business and an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. He is pursuing a PhD in Advanced Human Behavior and founded “A Human. Being!” in 2020 to help individuals develop life skills and coping strategies for personal growth. He’s currently on the BOOST Leadership Team and is the Program Manager for College Town at Reality Changers in San Diego. 

Emma Zang-Schwartz, MPH

Senior Manager, Education, KiwiCo Education, Mountain View, CA

Emma is a Senior Manager for the Education Team at KiwiCo. At KiwiCo, we hope to support your mission to ignite a love for learning. Our goal is to provide opportunities for growth in the classroom by providing hands-on, project-based learning programs that help students develop creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Emma works with the team to develop engaging activities that support the use of STEAM learning kits with groups of students.