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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Hear the Whole Song
I’ve mentioned before my love of the band Mumford & Sons, and I have been delighted recently that my five-year old son has been similarly taken by them. The other day we were listening to “Roll Away Your Stone” and I was telling him how that was the first song of theirs I had ever heard, and recounted the first time I heard it. He made me tell him the story twice, somehow as rapt by it as he was by the song. I told him that I was in the car driving when it came on. I told ... Read More
“Essence” of Leadership
If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to win. — Paul “Bear” Bryant People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou There is something in our organization we call the Essence of Leadership. To us Essence is the spirit of the quintessential leader. Our mission at Children’s Choice is to pro... Read More
Teacher to Student Bullying and a Call for Critical Teacher Education
The outrage over the viral video of Success Academy’s first grade teacher, Charlotte Dial, intimidating and berating her students during a math lesson, unleashed a wave criticism from countless parents, advocates, and educators. The video, recorded in November 2015 by an assistant teacher, shows Dial exhibiting noticeable hostility toward a particular student who fails to explain a math problem to her standard. She proceeds to rip up the girl’s paper and with a raised voice, orders h... Read More
Help Youth Share Their Time, Talent, and Treasure Through Philanthropy
I remember it like yesterday, sitting in a room that contained an elderly gentleman recovering from hip surgery as he talked about his passion for ballroom dancing. Photos of this pastime decorated his temporary recovery room. I was an awkward middle school student delivering a handmade snow globe (yes, the kind made from a baby food jar). This was part of a 4-H club’s service project, visit an assisted living community and sing songs to bring a little cheer to the residents. Almost thirty... Read More
3 Lessons on Growth Through After School Programs
Being that this is my first blog as a BOOST Breakfast Club Blogger, I am excited to share my passion for afterschool programs. When I began in the year 2000, there were more questions than answers. It was the age of discovery and exploration. It was before the After School Education and Safety (ASES) programs existed and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) programs were the only thing we knew. I was hired as a part-time Site Coordinator for an after school program and part-time Campus... Read More
The Value of the Field Trip
One of my many responsibilities, along with coordinating and maintaining an afterschool program, is to oversee the organization’s field trips. When I was first given this task, I looked at it as more of a side responsibility or least as not requiring as much intentionality as that of the day-to-day happenings of the program. It was not until after I experienced a few of these outings through the eyes of a young person that I truly saw the value of a field trip. Our organization does at lea... Read More
Youth Programming: Filling a Critical Void
Just recently, I started working for the juvenile justice system in the city government. Juvenile justice is a field of youth work that has always intrigued me with having done much academic research on it. At the same time, I knew that I would be opening myself up to experiences and situations that I would never have opened myself up to in any other field of youth work and not all of them were positive. I have seen youth exhibit behaviors and characteristics that I have never seen in any other ... Read More
Building Positive Self-Image and Community Through the Arts
Included in this post is a basic outline for a four-session Dance/Visual Arts and Poetry workshop. The following session series is created around the poem, “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. I have used the following experiences as a part of a curriculum for teenage girls who identified challenges with positive self-image and bullying within their peer group. As you read through the outline keep in mind the age of the children or young people you work with. Also, think about the theme or messag... Read More
Beyond the Classroom: Where the Magic Can Happen
About six months ago I moved from Minneapolis to New York City. I moved to take a two-year position at Inwood Academy for Leadership, a small charter school that serves a population made up almost entirely of Dominican kids from the Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, many of whom are living in poverty, struggle with English, and come to us grade levels behind. It’s a remarkable school that does remarkable work for these kids. My kids too. You see, both of my sons go ... Read More
Storytelling for Success: Promoting Your Program
“A story is a fact wrapped in an emotion that compels us to take an action that transforms our world. Telling them (customers, colleagues, bosses) stories, and listening to theirs, is the best way to promote your services and ideas… Stories are the irreducible core, the fire inside every business.” – Richard Maxwell In my own organization, this year has been the year of storytelling. Everyone in the organization has been focused on documenting success, gathering data, and... Read More
The Power of PICOUP – Are We Facilitators of Learning?
This time of year always brings with it a sense of reflection. As we enter the holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving, I always feel a strong pull to reflect on all that I have to be grateful for; food, shelter, a loving and healthy family, and the other important people in my life who have help me to become who I am. One such person in my life was my late dear friend, longtime work partner and co-author Mike Gessford, who coined an acronym that he thought accurately described what our job ... Read More
After School Attractions
I woke up early this morning in Washington DC where I am attending a conference on School Counseling programs. We are working on a new program to incorporate school counseling into our after school programs in order to provide students the emotional support they need to succeed. Despite my desire to linger in bed, I know I must get up in order to have time to stand in line for 45 minutes at Market Lunch at the Eastern Market to enjoy Blue Bucks (blueberry pancakes), eggs and biscuits….yum!... Read More