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!
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My drive to work definitely changed this year. With my kids Zooming from home, I was all alone on the daily commute—no need for our “Drive to School” playlist, seasonal playlist, or our Disney sing-a-long. I took the opportunity to use my car time to wisely—PODCASTS. Over the past year I delved into the stock market with Snacks Daily (okay, I did originally think the podcast was about snacks – not snack size stock tips – but hey, it’s still a good podcast). I improved my running tech...Read More
The singular most important role of today’s leader is growing those around them. This is not just a lofty goal, but one of intentional thought and commitment. I view nurturing those around me as a benefit not only to our organization but also as a way to develop skills that will lead to success in any organization. Gasp! Yes, I believe it is my duty to shape leaders who may someday join a competing organization. So, where to begin? Leadership development is offered for many reasons. Poor company...Read More
I recently spoke at the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Conference alongside partners from the National Summer Learning Association, Afterschool Alliance, and Grow Appalachia. A common theme of our 3 workshops was the interconnectedness of physical health and social-emotional health to promote overall well-being. While at the NRPA Conference, we released an exciting new brief, Afterschool: Fostering Protective Factors that Can Last a Lifetime. The resource emphasizes the importan...Read More
As we head back-to-school, I hope you’re making time to recover from a busy summer and practice self-care. This summer, I’ve tried to slow down a bit, unplug from technology when I can and enjoy reading a book – yeah, one made of paper! My favorite summer read has been The Deepest Well. It explores the impact of childhood adversity and the steps to take to counter those experiences. Like many people in America, I scored high on the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) questionnaire; now I’m findin...Read More
Editor’s Note: A special thank you to author @jillgordon for sharing the last of four of Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana’s webinar series. Today’s post focuses on engaging tools you can use in your program too! Click on the webinar link below “Engaging Tools in 60 Minutes” for the full program. And keep your eyes open, Jill will be adding to this series with additional content from Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana. The Youth Philanthropy Initiative of Indiana (YPII)...Read More
I cringed, big-time when I realized that part of my role as LA’s BEST Director of Staff Development was to develop an online learning and resource hub for our 2,000+ staff. Based on my previous experiences, I knew we were up against a lot—creating ‘that thing’ for compliance or ‘that thing’ we have to use online. It’s not easy to make an online learning platform engaging and relevant. Our internal Learning Management System (LMS) was mostly PowerPoint presentations with recorded voice-overs, use...Read More
BOOST requests workshop proposals that support and highlight trends, innovative research, and promising practices to support quality out-of-school time programs. The deadline to submit a workshop proposal for BOOST 2018 is Tuesday, October 31, at 5 pm PST. Any proposals submitted after this date will go on a waiting list. To submit a proposal, visit the BOOST Conference website and click on the blue button to start the application process. Every year the BOOST Conference offers a variety of work...Read More
I have a lot of breakfast meetings these days, the hardest kinds of meetings. Not the kind where I get excited about pitching a program to a new client or get to brainstorm curriculum and advocate for youth. Those meetings I love. No, lately my days are filled with meetings wherein I talk—or, more often, listen– to people expressing real fear and vulnerability about their present and future. Not just people: my staff. In February 2017, I gave speech to my staff on “the state of Arc...Read More
Happy New Year! Greetings! It is a new year! 2017-2018 starts now! This is a time when you will see kids you know and a time to meet new kiddos. But most important, it is a time to learn from last year and make this year even better. It’s back to school time! Take a moment to think about what you learned from last year and what your New Year’s resolutions are for this upcoming year, how will you improve your program? Will you concentrate on staff development, sustainable programmi...Read More
Back-to-school is Here. For youth serving organizations, transitioning from summer to the school year is stressful. With tight budgets, limited capacity and less-than-inspiring news headlines, staying optimistic, energized and creative is a challenge. This article builds on my previous blog, “Designing Welcoming and Healthy Environments” with seven ways to makeover your office and break room this fall. Like this topic? I will be presenting a workshop based on this article at the National Recreat...Read More