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!

Interested in becoming a blogger? Email breakfastclub@boostcollaborative.org

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When OST Comes Home: What Happens, What Counts, and What Matters?

Both the evidence from the science of learning and common sense tell us that learning and development occur all the time. But typically, opportunities for learning and development are shared and spread over various spaces, places, and delivery modes in schools, community organizations, and families. But ten days ago, most of those places were abruptly shut down – schools were closed, OST programs shuttered, and parks were ordered emptied. Yet learning and development didn’t stop. Millions of fam...Read More

Countdown to BOOST! 5 Ways to Get Ready for the BOOST Conference

Every year, professionals in the field of expanded learning come together to share ideas and best practices, get inspired, and connect with others who share a similar passion. This magical experience is BOOST! It is one of a kind. I wish I could bottle up the energy. Regardless if you’ve never attended, or attend each year, here are a few strategies you might consider to optimize your BOOST experience. 1. Be Informed Review the workshop sessions and Inspiration Stations beforehand and high...Read More

Algorithms with Empathy

The algorithms, math, hardware, physics, engineering, computer science, and artificial intelligence behind breakthrough discoveries like those spearheaded by Elon Musk and his teams require a person to be emotionally, socially, and physically prepared for the failures and successes of attempting to reimagine and change our world. I watched with great admiration as one of the most successful human beings of our time, possibly in all human history, cried at the thought of his heroes knocking him f...Read More

The Rest of the Story

Perhaps you remember as well as I do the Big Hair Bands that dominated the charts during the 1980s. These bands were known for their big hair, big concerts, big displays of pyrotechnics, big guitar solos, and big personalities. One of the bands that exemplified the image of the Big Hair Band was Van Halen. The stories of the antics that occurred off-stage were often as newsworthy as the music they performed onstage. One such story was that the band – get this – demanded that M&Ms be placed b...Read More

Breakthrough Episode Two Recap: More Than Human

Breakthrough is produced by Hollywood power players Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and their Imagine Entertainment company. Each week a different actor or director will delve into real world, human stories that connect the ways that science impacts our lives. The directors include actors like Angela Bassett and Paul Giamatti, Producer/Directors like Ron Howard, Bret Ratner (X-Man) and Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind; I, Robot) and Peter Beg (Friday Night Lights). BOOST Collaborative will be publis...Read More

Preparation

A combination of layovers and a tight schedule recently led me to be on four planes in 24 hours. It is spring, and it is the Midwest, so weather is frequently a factor, and I was fascinated to experience two of the pilots handle a similar situation in completely different ways. Pilot One, en route to Detroit from Indianapolis, checked in when we were about 25 minutes from landing, as pilots often do. He said hello, gave us a brief update on the goings-on in Detroit, and then before he signed off...Read More

Polo Shirts & School Master Keys Were the Beginning as a Site Coordinator

It was a typical day in my elementary after school program. I was the newly appointed Site Coordinator after 5 years of being a line staff program leader working with 20 youth at the same school. I remember how excited I was to be promoted to the Site Coordinator position. I felt like for the first time someone had recognized my talent in working with youth. I remember how I felt when I received my staff collared polo shirt; line staff wore regular t-shirts. Somehow the collar told everyone arou...Read More