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!
Interested in becoming a blogger? Email [email protected]
Click here to Register for a free account or click here to Login to your existing account.
Just Love
I’m sitting here at my computer, with my four-year old son Dylan sitting at the table across from me. He’s on the other computer, playing Peppa Pig games. I’m supposed to be staring at my computer thinking about blog topics for the day, but instead I’m staring at him and thinking about how unbelievable he is. How smart (as he navigates the laptop like a professional, even with his tiny little fingers), how funny, how mischievous, how cunning, how playful, how joyful. I...Read More
Experience Inspires Love
When we were the age of our students, neither of us thought that we would be teachers. Even in 2011, when we first entered a classroom to foster relationships between learners across borders, we didn’t consider the possibility that we would end up working in education. But today neither of us could imagine doing anything else. While our path toward becoming educators has not been a traditional one, our mission as co-founders of the not-for-profit organization The OR Network has grown organ...Read More
The GUILTY Pleasure and How to Kick It
Guilt. You’ve used it. You’ve felt it. You’ve given it. There are many things that I have learned in my lifestyle as a youth worker, but one that stands out is how I have used guilt as a tool to succeed and also to fail. As a young supervisor, I learned to lead by guilt. It was disguised under the umbrella of relationship building, but it was still good ol’ guilt. Perhaps it was my up bringing or society or my mentors, regardless, I knew using guilt was a tactic definitel...Read More
My Why: Defining Moments and Relationships
In college, I was in search of a work-study position to help pay the bills. I knew I loved working with children and so I interviewed for a position with a local after school program. Not only did I receive the job, I received a life-long mentor in the field of education, a passion for the out-of-school time field, and a purpose for continuing my education and career path with children, families, and communities. I do what I do because of the relationship aspect of out-of-school time programs. F...Read More
My Why: Pleasurable and Meaningful Work
There are those in my family who still don’t “get” what I do and wonder, sometimes audibly, if I will ever get a real job. They ask, “Why form a non-profit organization. Do you want to be poor all your life?” I am someone who didn’t plan to work in this profession. When I was in college, studying biology and chemistry, I knew working with kids would someday make me a better Dad, so I took a part-time work-study job in an afterschool program. Then I got hooked ...Read More
Hugs are Free Today but Tomorrow they’re a Dollar
Over the last few years, I have become known as “the lady who loves hugs.” When I visit any of our campuses, the kids come running ready for a hug, while others sit back and wait for me to approach them. Regardless if they run or wait, almost every single kid extends out their arms awaiting the embrace. For 13 years, I have wholeheartedly embraced the belief that we must hug our kids. I know that there are all sorts of arguments out there for why we should not show physical affection...Read More
Beyond the Classroom: Where the Magic Can Happen
About six months ago I moved from Minneapolis to New York City. I moved to take a two-year position at Inwood Academy for Leadership, a small charter school that serves a population made up almost entirely of Dominican kids from the Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, many of whom are living in poverty, struggle with English, and come to us grade levels behind. It’s a remarkable school that does remarkable work for these kids. My kids too. You see, both of my sons go ...Read More
Storytelling for Success: Promoting Your Program
“A story is a fact wrapped in an emotion that compels us to take an action that transforms our world. Telling them (customers, colleagues, bosses) stories, and listening to theirs, is the best way to promote your services and ideas… Stories are the irreducible core, the fire inside every business.” – Richard Maxwell In my own organization, this year has been the year of storytelling. Everyone in the organization has been focused on documenting success, gathering data, and...Read More
The Power of PICOUP – Are We Facilitators of Learning?
This time of year always brings with it a sense of reflection. As we enter the holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving, I always feel a strong pull to reflect on all that I have to be grateful for; food, shelter, a loving and healthy family, and the other important people in my life who have help me to become who I am. One such person in my life was my late dear friend, longtime work partner and co-author Mike Gessford, who coined an acronym that he thought accurately described what our job ...Read More
After School Attractions
I woke up early this morning in Washington DC where I am attending a conference on School Counseling programs. We are working on a new program to incorporate school counseling into our after school programs in order to provide students the emotional support they need to succeed. Despite my desire to linger in bed, I know I must get up in order to have time to stand in line for 45 minutes at Market Lunch at the Eastern Market to enjoy Blue Bucks (blueberry pancakes), eggs and biscuits….yum!...Read More
Kids Bond to People, Not Programs
One of the things I am most grateful for is how my job allows me the opportunity to meet and work with some of the most amazing people. I am inspired daily by those who have given their time and talents to after school programs across the country. And since it is apparent, they are not in this business for the vast amount of money they can earn, there is something else that compels them. They love kids! Yes, I used the “L” word. In a recent training in Arizona, one of the participant...Read More
Making Connections- Youth Development and Academic Achievement
For many afterschool programs having an academic piece that really does make a difference in the lives of their students seems an elusive goal. With more and more stress being placed on afterschool programs demonstrating how their activities improve the academic achievement of their students, it has become increasingly important to understand what fosters this kind of success. One way to evaluate whether academic activities will produce the desired results is to look at them through the lenses o...Read More