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 views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Enjoy the brain food.

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!

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Discovering and Engaging Diverse Philanthropic Youth

Editor’s Note: A special thank you to author @jillgordon for sharing the second of four webinars from the Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana’s 2017 webinar series designed to promote next-gen leadership and giving opportunities. Today’s post focuses on recruiting diverse youth to your programs that represent the communities you serve. Click on the webinar link below “Discovering and Engaging Diverse Philanthropic Youth” for the full program. And keep your eyes open later in Jun...Read More

Social-Emotional Fitness: Neophobia vs. Neuroplasticity

“What were you thinking?!” “I can’t believe you did that!” These are just some of the favorite phrases of “disbelief” we like to use as adults when we come face to face with mistakes made by youth. I know this personally and professionally.  I have two daughters ages 7 and 11, and I will admit that these words have been a part of my “go-to” statements when trying to figure out what led to them messing up. When you understand the mental and emotional state of adolescence, the question referenced ...Read More

Webinar 3: Igniting Leadership in Young People

Editor’s Note: A special thank you to author @jillgordon for sharing the third of four of Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana’s webinar series. Today’s post focuses on youth leadership practices that can be implemented in your program too!  Click on the webinar link below “Igniting Leadership in Youth” for the full program.  And keep your eyes open in April for the next special webinar from Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana.  The Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (...Read More

Youth Development’s Hippocratic Oath

Editor’s Note: this blog is used with permission from the author. It was first published on October 14th, 2016 at https://arancibia.org/rodrigoblog/2016/10/14/youth-developments-hippocratic-oath.  In 1964, Louis Lasagna, the academic dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University, looked at the work of Hippocrates and crafted the modern version of the Hippocratic Oath that is used in many medical schools today.  This galvanizing text is used as a declaration for the medical field to ra...Read More

Coding Club: What High School Students Can Teach Us About Leading Afterschool Programs

None of the high school or elementary students noticed me when I slipped into their after-school classroom last fall. The room buzzed with happy energy as the older students crouched at computers, coaching their younger peers on using Scratch to create animated games. This after-school Coding Club was the first of its kind for my organization, Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education and Recreation (“Rec & Ed”). We have a decades-long history of providing after-school programs in our sch...Read More

Webinar 2: How to Inspire Youth Giving

Editor’s Note: A special thank you to author @jillgordon for sharing the second of four of Youth Philanthropy’s webinar series. Today’s post focuses on youth philanthropy models that can be implemented in your program too!  Click on the webinar link below “How to Inspire Youth Giving” for the full program.  And, keep your eyes open in March for the next special webinar from Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana. The Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (YPII) created a 4...Read More

Engaging Young People in Creative Placemaking: Part Two

Welcome back to this two-part blog series as we unpack what creative placemaking looks like in community development and how we can use it as a tool to empower youth in being key players in their local public spaces. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take a few minutes to read Engaging Young People in Creative Placemaking: Part One, published February 20, 2018 right here on the BOOST Cafe Breakfast Club Blog.  Using Creative Placemaking in Youth Program: Examples It may feel daunt...Read More

Engaging Young People in Creative Placemaking: Part One

Young people have inspiration, ideas, and unique problem-solving skills to contribute to community planning.  One of the most holistic ways of designing sustainable spaces and places is through creative placemaking. In this two-part blog post, I will share with you what creative placemaking is, the importance of it in our communities, and how we can use creative placemaking in our youth programs. Creative Placemaking One of the best definitions of creative placemaking is from Ann Markusen and An...Read More

Serving Through Hands-On Projects

Editors Note: A special thank you to author @jillgordon for sharing one of four of Youth Philanthropy’s webinar series. Today’s post focuses on service learning models that can be implemented in your program too!  Click on the webinar link below “Serving through Hands-on Projects” for the full program.  And, keep your eyes open in February for the next special webinar from Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana.  Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (YPII) created a 4-part webi...Read More

Collaboration, Gratitude and Birds (Yeah, Birds!)

As we enter the holiday season, I’m thankful to be coming up on my 10th year at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. As Director of Community Partnerships, I have the unique pleasure of cultivating relationships to engage communities in promoting children’s health. For this article, I wanted to share three collaborations that I am particularly excited about – each with resources I hope you can use to bring wellness to life in out-of-school time while engaging families and empowering children...Read More

Coaching And Endless Possibilities

A quick story and important reminder about how important a good coach is, and what the possibilities are when you have a great coach. My son, who is in first grade, played rookie tackle football this fall. The season ended a few weeks ago, with his team winning the 1st-grade championship. It was a spectacular finish to the season—they got to play the game on the high school football field. Our town’s high school football team won the state championship last year, and so football is a pretty big ...Read More

How Clue and The 4C’s Inspire Connection, Community and Creativity

How DO board games inspire Connection, Community, and Creativity, you ask? Last week, eight middle school girls were consumed with the details related to who murdered Mr. Boddy. This wasn’t the latest episode of a crime drama, and thankfully wasn’t something in the news, but instead was the culminating event wrapping up their Secret Agent badge-an intense game of Clue. I’m lucky enough to be the troop leader for my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, an out-of-school time activity that she and mo...Read More