- Provide local children and families exciting and informative garden-based nutrition education and academically connected experiential education.

- Promote policy change in the areas of school meals and physical activity.

Introduce locally grown, fresh, and organic produce into school meals and snack programs.

- Promote healthy eating not just at school, but also at home.

- Promote community based awareness and civic engagement about land use policies that encourage healthy eating and active living.

To learn more, click here.

BOOST is proud to bring you free resources to enhance the quality of your out-of-school time program and professional development needs.  We will be adding resources to this section on a quarterly basis.

Here is a sampling of what is offered. Please click on the subjects below.

Academic Curriculum

Advocacy/Policy

After School Administration

Behavior Management

Camps

Character Education

Community Collaborations/Partnerships

Community Service Learning

Depression/Suicide

Family Support Services

Health

Inclusion

Juvenile Diversion

LGBTQ

Mental Health

Military

Nutrition

Obesity Prevention

Prevention: Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs

Prevention: Violence, Bullying, Gangs

Research

Resiliency

Teen Dating

Youth Development

Literacy Training of Trainers - (January 28, 2011) facilitated by Dr. Nancy Frey, Associate Professor, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

Share an Activity!

Nathan Say

Sunny Lu grew up in China and came to US for school 4 years ago. She is a recent graduate of University of California San Diego with a degree in Communication. Marketing and event planning have always been Sunny's passion. Before joining BOOST as an Intern, she interned for both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations, and her intern experience from Confucius Institute at San Diego State University increased her interest towards the education field. She never knew there is such huge demand for various educational support in the local communities. She has decided to continue her efforts by working with education based non-profits so to make contribution to changing the world

Born and raised, Nick Fontaine spent nearly his entire life living in San Diego, California. Being a Californian he's spent plenty of time in maritime based programs and organizations such as The Junior Life Guards and the Navy Sea Cadet Corps, as well as being a former gymnast and ballet dancer. Mid-way through his sophomore year of high school he transferred to Health Sciences High and Middle College where he participated in various internships such as working with SHARP hospitals, the network administrator of his school and US Army National Guard recruiting office. He has finally found his place as a part of the BOOST Collaborative team.

If he isn't hanging out with friends in and around Tierrasanta or City Heights he can usually be found at the local shooting ranges working on his marksmanship. Also, fond of the outdoors, Nick often runs hikes, camps and mountain bikes; feeling perfectly at home with the dirt beneath his boots and the sun above his head.

San Diego County Halloween Candy Buy Back Program

For the second year San Diego County  will  be given the opportunity to keep their kids healthy after Halloween and support U.S. troops by giving them a taste of home. Healthy Kids Choice, Inc. has partnered with the San Diego Childhood Obesity Initiative and 14 local dentists and physicians to collect excess candy from eager youth. Children who wish to bring in their unopened Halloween candy to participating dentist and physician offices located around the county will receive $1 per pound. Collected candy will then be sent as a gift to United States military service men and women serving our country overseas via Operation Gratitude.

Cheryl Moder, Director of the San Diego County  Childhood Obesity Initiative believes "this program is a perfect fit for the San Diego community." And is "very encouraged by the number of dentists and physicians that are volunteering to participate this year and are hopeful our local families will see the many benefits this program brings." 

Not only are the local dentist and physicians offices participating, but also many local shippers have agreed to ship the candy to Operation Gratitude at no cost enabling the program to collect as much candy as possible. The first year of this program yielded a whopping 2,300 pounds of candy and this year they are raising the bar and making their goal 2,800 pounds. For troop safety, Operation Gratitude works from the Army National Guard armory in Van Nuys, California to assemble the packages. Once completed, they are sent to service members overseas.

If you are interested in having your youth participate there is a list of participating San Diego dentists and physicians on their website here.  Each site is accepting candy on different dates.

To learn more about the San Diego County Halloween Candy Buy Back Program please visit their website here.

Do you have a staff member or colleague that goes above and beyond every day? Send a 200 word feature and photo of them to kate@boostcollaborative.org

Overall, From Big Cities to Small Towns, sponsored by JCPenney Afterschool, finds that the nation has a long way to go to meet the needs of kids and families from urban, suburban and rural communities when schools are not in session.

To read the complete findings please click here.