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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Hope Circle: An Opportunity for Creative Movement
Dancing engages nearly all of the brain at once. Just participating in dance is good for the brain, but dance can also be used to intentionally target really important development areas for children. Children can come to see what they are capable of by experiencing the influence they have when they engage in creating dance. One of my favorite creative movement experiences to guide children through, and adults for that matter, is the “Hope Circle” experience. I first participated in a...Read More
Summer Meals: Policy Update and Best Practices for Summer 2021
The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a critical resource for filling the nutrition gap that exists for many low-income children who rely on free or reduced-price meals during the school year. The need to expand the reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs is more important than ever as communities continue to respond to COVID-19’s impacts on food security, education, and the economy. To support continued meal access during COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended key n...Read More
Let’s amplify the voice of the expanded learning workforce
When the majority of schools in 2020-21 were closed for in-person learning, who has answered the call? The expanded learning workforce. Some staff at afterschool, summer, and out-of-school-time programs provided supervision and support to children of essential workers and other vulnerable children. Others stepped up to meet families’ basic needs, including meals, technology for distance learning, and referrals to language translation and free COVID-19 testing. Some found missing students and foc...Read More
4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Promote Meaningful Participation in Afterschool
Research tells us that if we hope to make a difference in young people’s learning, we need to provide opportunities for learning that is meaningful. This is especially important as youth return to afterschool programs after a year of isolation. If young people are engaged in meaningful participation, they are empowered to be self-directed, make responsible choices about how to use their time, and participate as group members in making decisions that influence the larger program and what they lea...Read More
Teaching the Holidays: The December Dilemma
It’s December, which means the holidays are upon us—but how do educators best address them in the classroom? December is a joyful time for many Americans—and not just those who celebrate Christmas as a sacred holiday or cultural event. Jews celebrate Hanukkah, Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day, many African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa, and cultures across the world celebrate the Winter Solstice. For educators, however, the convergence of so many holidays can create the December dilemma: how to...Read More
BOOST Vibes – Messages of Hope, Love & Inspiration
In recognition of the week we would have been together, we’ve asked the BOOST Leadership Team, BOOST Ambassadors, and Breakfast Club Bloggers to share messages of hope & inspiration with the field, to connect our community until we can gather together again. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For many of us in the movement, the end of the day comes around 6PM, some a bit later, especially the family th...Read More
Using YouTube for PD- BOOST Your Learning
Did you know we have over 100 educational videos on our YouTube page? Our digital content includes past BOOST Conference keynote speakers and general session entertainment, fun enrichment activities, as well as dozens of videos recorded from our BOOST Training and Online Learning Community. We have created a fillable YouTube PD Reflection & Action Planning Form to support your professional development and allowing you to: Reflect on your learning. Track your learning and stay accountable. Cr...Read More
2020 BOOST Conference Postponed – New Dates Inside
Dear BOOST Community, After long and serious deliberation, the BOOST Team has made the difficult decision to postpone the October 2020 BOOST Conference due to the coronavirus pandemic. We simply are still not able to gather safely in large groups at this time and your safety is of utmost importance to us. Several factors went into our decision. When we were forced to postpone our April 2020 conference back in March, it seemed viable that October would be a reasonable time for our reschedu...Read More
An empty basketball court…
Prior to this spring, I had all of these ideas rolling around in my head about this next blog post. Would it be about standardized testing (a normal spring occurrence) or preparing your English Learner (EL) for summer? Would it be a post about connecting EL families to school and making them feel welcome? Then, around mid-March, we all began talking about something else… Did you see that they closed Italy? Did you see that there are COVID-19 cases in Washington State? Did you see they held that ...Read More
BOOST Stands in Solidarity with Black Communities
TEAMBOOST stands in solidarity with our Black colleagues, students, families, and communities. We love you. We support you. We are here for you. Today, we are recommitting to our fight for racial justice, inclusion, and equity. Going forward, we will continue to take meaningful action toward positive change.Over the years, we’ve sought out powerful Black voices to educate, inspire, and uplift the BOOST community. We hope you’ll take some time to listen, read, and continue your anti-r...Read More
Youth Participatory Evaluation: An Opportunity to Promote Youth Development and Program Improvement (Webinar #1)
In 2019, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) hosted a free, two-part webinar series designed to support next-gen leadership and giving. The first webinar, “Youth Participatory Evaluation: An Opportunity to Promote Youth Development and Program Improvement,” explored concepts of Youth Participatory Evaluation (YPE) with Dr. Lori Palen of RTI International’s Center on Social Determinants, Risk Behaviors, and Prevention Science. Sharing Indiana examples of youth evaluative processes that included y...Read More
Brokering Youth Interests, Opportunities, And Relationships
Learning happens in both formal settings like school, and informal spaces such as museums, libraries, afterschool clubs, and online affinity spaces. At museums and libraries, youth can engage in following passions on a wide range of interest-driven topics, from makerspaces to retro-videogaming. In afterschool clubs, youth may learn 3D printing, computer coding, digital photography, or debate skills. In online affinity spaces, youth can explore other interests not always available locally. Online...Read More