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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In this Time of Crisis, Afterschool Gives Me Hope
California, and the nation as a whole, are in the midst of multiple and intersecting crises—the public health crisis of COVID-19, the resulting economic crisis, and a long-standing crisis of injustice and systemic oppression of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). When I think of the children and communities who are suffering the most as a result of these crises, I get consumed with questions. What will happen to kids this summer? When will they be able to come back to school? How wil...Read More
Using Voice and Choice in Afterschool Programs
As afterschool professionals, we give a lot of lip service to the phrase “voice and choice.” Theoretically, we understand that students feel more ownership of their afterschool programs when they are able to voice their opinions and provide input into the program. Sounds easy, right? Like most good ideas, however, implementation is much more difficult than it sounds. Students are most likely not going to gather and discuss collaboratively what they want the program to be. There is al...Read More
Do You Believe In The Power Of Music?
“Do you believe in the power of music?” is a question continually asked on the band BER’s Facebook page. Who is BER? What…you aren’t familiar with the world of Teen Titans GO!? Well, a quick backstory for you. BER is a little-known studio band that charted atop the Billboard Hot Rock with “The Night Begins to Shine,” an 80’s-style song that was sitting in a music library until it will be plucked up, used in an episode of the cartoon, and then kept growing into its own 4-part cartoon special abou...Read More
Mindfulness Practices For Afterschool Program Staff, Students And Parents
Why take the time to pause and introduce mindfulness as a practice that enriches the lives of our students, parents, and program staff? How might mindfulness also benefit us as educators? Soon after the presidential election in November 2016, many Latino and Muslim students and families in our partnering Los Angeles schools were experiencing a lot of anxiety and fear. In addition to obtaining information about community resources, the students, parents, and staff in our afterschool programs were...Read More
My Why: For the Young, Scared Staff Member in All of Us
The “Why” blogging series has me digging deep and pondering the question of “Why do I do what I do?” Is it because I am a kid at heart? Is it because I spent too much time listening to Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” in 8th grade? Is it that working with children and youth in after school and camp programs is the closest thing to being a teacher without actually being a teacher – something I swore to my mother, the teacher, I would nev...Read More
College Access and Career Readiness through Afterschool Programming
College access and career readiness are important in the discourse regarding social mobility and at the center of discussions about the future of American competitiveness in a global economy that has significantly become knowledge and innovation-based. The Council of Economic Advisors stated in their report Preparing the Workers of Today for the Jobs of Tomorrow (July 2009),”Well-trained and highly skilled workers will be in the best positions to secure high wage jobs, thereby fueling Amer...Read More