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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On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

3 Great Opportunities to Blast off the New School Year

Shawn Petty No Comments

It’s that time again! All across the country, youth are getting ready to embrace the new school year and after-school programs are transitioning from summer learning to fall programming. I have found that a new school year is like a blank journal just waiting for an author’s special touch. It is an opportunity to expand upon an existing story, transform the direction of the story, or create something totally new. I wanted to share three thoughts to consider as you begin the new school year: 1. W...Read More

Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Turn Your Survey Hell into Survey Heaven in Three Easy Steps

Corey Newhouse No Comments

Nearly all after-school and summer programs have their kids take surveys, and nearly all programs suffer through the process. Surveys so rarely live up to their promise, and it gets harder and harder to convince staff and youth to complete this annual chore. In my experience as a professional evaluator, surveys almost always have three big flaws that limit their usefulness. Fix these flaws to turn survey hell to survey heaven! Step One: Organize survey questions by theme Think of the three or fo...Read More

On-Site Staff / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management / Sustainability

Summer Matters! Who Will You Invite? (CA Specific)

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

Today I had a peach for breakfast which means summer time!  My kids are 4 days from summer break. They are excited to sleep in for a week and NOT think about deadlines, papers, projects, tests.  But, they’ll start to get bored.  Luckily for them, they’ll be moving right into their next set of adventures and learning opportunities.  From rock climbing to animal camp to spy club – they’ll be stretching their brains and their legs all summer long.  Of course, every kid should have these opportuniti...Read More

success-7 specialties success-7 specialties
Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

7 Specialties of the Afterschool Program Director

mikeashcraft No Comments

The director’s job can be very complex. We’ve come up with a powerful yet simple way to articulate what the job entails, illustrate how to effectively manage your time, and leverage your efforts to maximize your success. We have identified 7 Specialties that help bring simplicity to understanding a challenging and complex job. When directors only specialize in one of these areas (such as… “MY specialty is parent relationships”), they add value, but they never really...Read More