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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Hi Miss Tiaaaana
Recently, I posted a picture of myself on Instagram, and to my surprise, I received likes from folks I have not seen in quite a while. One of them, a young lady who attended the middle and high school after-school program I managed five years ago, commented on the picture by saying, “Hi Miss Tiaaaana.” She shared photos of her daughter with me, and in one of our messages, told me that some other girls who attended 20 West wanted to reunite to catch up. Hearing that my old students wa...Read More
I Can’t Wait to be BOOSTed Again!
Even though we can’t be together at BOOST this year, we’re taking this week to celebrate our community of BOOSTers and reflect on all the learning, joy, and inspiration we’ve shared over the years. This post originally appeared on the Breakfast Club Blog on July 13, 2016. Enjoy! In March of 2003, after being a stay at home mom for almost a year, I decided it was time to rejoin the workforce. I applied for and accepted a part time line staff position with a local after school pr...Read More
On the Frontlines of Pandemic Education
While many schools cannot provide in-person classes, afterschool programs are delivering in-person enrichment on school campuses – and all is not quiet on the education front. The coronavirus pandemic continues to have devastating effects across the world and has become a divisive political issue in the United States. This virus has laid bare our society’s injustices, including inequity in public education. Distance learning has potential, and I hope we figure it out. In the meantime, stud...Read More
Leading with Heart
I come from a family of immigrants, a fact that I will always take pride in. When my mom first immigrated to the US from the Philippines in 1978, she came as a nurse and settled in Chicago before ending up in Los Angeles. She spent over 30 years in the healthcare field as an RN here in LA at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and absolutely loved her job — it was her calling — until she retired a few years ago. It was her cousin, my Uncle Vic’s calling too. He followed the same pattern, ending up on th...Read More
All The Single Moms
What did I have for breakfast today? I think I finished the kids’ Honey Nut Cheerios and must have downed some coffee. I can’t recall though, because I am losing my mind. My wife has been out of town on a work trip for two weeks and I am trying to hold down the fort as a single dad. I am running a zone defense and I am privileged enough to have the support of a part-time nanny… and still, I am getting crushed. This experience reminds me, once again, how much I appreciate all the Single Mom...Read More
3 Easy Ways To Be A Changemaker! It Makes Cents
The afterschool field is under attack. For three consecutive years, President Trump has pushed to eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, the only federal funding specifically for afterschool programs. And if we turn to our own backyard, we find that funding for California’s afterschool programs does not keep pace with the state minimum wages increases (which are needed) or the economy. Many of our programs are already working on shoestring budgets and what they do with th...Read More
We Are Young And LGBTQ, Are You Ready For Us?
I had a different blog in mind for this month, but there was a situation in the small Indiana town that I live in where a house was vandalized with hateful, homophobic graffiti and obscene images all across the side of the house. It was sad, infuriating, hurtful, and a reminder that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done to ensure all LGBTQ+ individuals, especially youth, have the services and protection they need around them! Another Pride month has come and past. A few questions f...Read More
My Why: Hope Dealers – A Mission for Change
I got hooked on after school programs in 1992 while working as an art teacher in Hartford, CT. The old, rundown brick-faced school sat in the middle of an urban jungle. The hallways were dingy, there was no grass, only a cement parking lot that was used for “recess,” and many of the bathroom stalls were missing doors. It lacked promise to say the least. My immediate thoughts when I started this job were of sadness. Where was the equity in all of this? Despite previously working with ...Read More
A Journey of Self-Discovery
The students in our programs come from diverse backgrounds and face unique challenges in navigating the world they are growing up in. It is a privilege to be their guide in this journey called life. Many of the students we have in our programs are having experiences that may be similar to the staff working in our programs. The true challenge is being able to create an environment that supports the staff and students to feel emotionally and physically safe and not just survive but thrive in spite...Read More
Creating Community Post Election
These last few days have not been normal. I have spent my morning breaking up political fights. Not in Washington, not in my community or at a protest, but in my K-5 before and after school program. And that breaks my heart. The day after the election, my kids were either devastated or elated as they walked through my door, with only a few falling somewhere in between. On one side, this in itself makes me proud. Proud that we are encouraging our kids, no matter the age, to be a part of the polit...Read More
Get More from Your Data! Three Steps to Success
The end of the school year is a great time to take stock of your after school program, celebrating what went well and setting course to get even better in the future. It can be tough to wade through the data on hand. Too often, when teams sit down to get clear about what their data is saying, they struggle to figure out what really matters and what do to next. Use this three-step method to make more meaning of your data: Scan Start by getting a 10,000-foot view of your data landscape. This will ...Read More
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