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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Don’t Look at the Chipped Paint on the Walls…
Even I have to admit, it’s easy it is to be distracted professionally by things that are relatively unimportant to our organization’s overall goals. How do we as executive and organizational leaders refocus our minds on what gives us joy in our work lives while also driving us towards our mission? This seems to be especially important as we deal with the lingering impact of the pandemic and start the process of emerging out of the collective fog that has permeated many classrooms, organizations,...Read More
Identity Development for Youth – OST Has a Role to Play
My work at pilotED Schools includes designing an identity development curriculum that includes representative history and civic engagement woven together with transformative social and emotional learning practices. A key feature of the adolescence development journey is determining who one is and deciding who one will be through identity exploration and development. Let’s chat about identity development today! One framework that I turn to often in my work is the Foundations for Young Adult Succe...Read More
Taking a Pause for Equity
Slow down to move fast. Sounds counterintuitive, right? But knowing when to press pause is a critical decision that all leaders face. Here are some thoughts on why taking a break is the right thing for all leaders right now. As leaders in expanded learning, we often evaluate our practices against a set of criteria, perhaps aligned with a specific grant, or internal goals and objectives. What if instead, we took a step back and really looked at how our efforts and decisions impact the very commun...Read More
3 Ways To Living A Purpose Driven Life
I did not understand how in-depth it was to “living a purpose driven” life, or even what it meant. I remember reading books that talked about living a “purpose driven life,” but I did not think it pertained to me. I’m not a religious person. But I know now, later in my life, that being connected with my spiritual self keeps me in line with my purpose in life. I remember going to a retreat the first time I heard this. Micheal Bernard Beck, from the movie The Secret, ...Read More
Planning for a “New Year” With Our Kiddos #Repost
Editors note: This blog was first published in January 2018. We believe the content of this blog is as relevant today for 2019, as it was for 2018. Let’s keep asking these questions… ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 1 is really our second “New Year” with our kiddos. Happy New Year, take two! As educators, we really have two new years. First, we start the year in August or September when our kiddos r...Read More
“You Will Always Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take”
“You will always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” This is a powerful quote from Wayne Gretzky, one of the most famous and highest-scoring professional hockey players of all time. It is also a very powerful lesson to share with kids. So many people, kids and grownups, let their dreams stay on their “wish list” instead of putting them on their “to do” list – leaving them there to die as the years slip by. But that doesn’t have to happen! Here are three common “stoppers” that keep peo...Read More
Focusing on Wildly Important Goals
If you’re a mid-career professional like me, you’ve participated in a lot of strategic planning processes. I’ve found that the good ones are inspiring, create a shared sense of purpose and momentum, and result in measurable outcomes. The bad ones, well, don’t. After leading a department-wide reorganization process in 2014, I knew two things: we needed to do some strategic planning and execution, but staff were tired from the grueling months of meetings. I had to find some...Read More