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| Letter from the BOOST Collaborative Team | |
Greetings BOOSTers! Happy New Year!
While we emphasize the importance of learning to our students, we need to remember to take care of our own professional development needs as well. What are your professional development goals for 2011? How do you want to better your career? Build more relationships? Secure additional funding? Whatever your area(s) of focus are, it is important to limit the number of goals for the coming year in order to have the greatest impact. Establish a clear action plan to achieve each goal, specific outcomes or results, and a completion date.
Goals should be SMART:
· Specific
· Measurable
· Attainable
· Relevant
· Time Specific
We are pleased to continue to work with and support your organization this year. We have so many exciting learning opportunities planned for this year including the BOOST Conference in Palm Springs, the BOOST Boot Camp this summer and the Healthy Behaviors Conference in the fall- not to mention training, technical assistance and consulting designed to meet your needs and budget.
Thank you for all that you do to support children, youth, families, and communities. You make a difference.
The BOOST Collaborative Team
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BOOST Buzz
| Spring Internship
The BOOST Collaborative has multiple openings for internships in the Spring Semester. As an intern in our office you will have hands-on experience working with a team to create staff development opportunities, training, organize conferences, building community partnerships, database development, event planning, non-profit fundraising, assisting with program and resource development, and coordinating media and marketing outlets on a national level. We are seeking several creative, enthusiastic people to help us grow and serve.
To find out more and become a part of the BOOST Team click here.
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BOOST Professional Development Calendar
| Back by Popular Demand!
 Literacy Training of Trainers
Presented by Dr. Nancy Frey,
Associate Professor,
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
January 28, 2011
San Diego, CA
http://www.boostcollaborative.org/calendar
All staff members involved in after school programs can have a positive impact on students' academic achievement and literacy development. This interactive session will focus on specific research-based strategies that are immediately useful during homework assistance time and enrichment activities, including read alouds/thinkalouds, writing to learn, and graphic organizers.
Target Audience: Elementary, Middle, and High School training teams, made up of the regional leads for after school, literacy experts from county offices of education, and after school program leaders from counties, districts, and community-based organized supporting after school.
For more information on BOOST Collaborative trainings, please visit our online Professional Development Calendar www.boostcollaborative.org/calendar.
For questions about registration please contact Christine McKenna: christine@boostcollaborative.org or 619-232-6678 x1.
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| BOOST Breakfast Club Featured Blog | Girls and the Scary World of Relationships - How Your After School Program Can Encourage Healthy Choices
 Gabriela Baeza, Project Specialist,
San Diego County Office of Education,
San Diego, CA
There comes a time in a girl's life (and boy's for that matter) when the opposite sex no longer have "koodies." Once girls discover that they like boys, there is no turning back the hands of time- they have entered the point of no return. By this I mean that all common sense is out the window. Girls enter this "boy crazy" stage in about 6th grade and it gets severely out of control in middle school- trust me! However, it is important to work with our female students on setting and keeping boundaries as well as identifying what a positive relationship (should they choose to be in one) looks like...
To read more by Gabriela Baeza please click here.
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| Monthly Contest | |
Facebook Contest January 2011
Visit our Gear Shop photo album on our Facebook page, find your favorite item and tag yourself. One lucky person tagged in a Gear Shop photo will be randomly selected to win that item!
Click here to check out our Facebook Photo Album.
Contest runs from January 10-24, 2011. Winner will be announced on January 25, 2011.
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| Program Highlight |
After-School All-Stars Featured on popular NBC show, "The Sing-Off"
On December 20th, 2010 After-School All-St ars, Los Angeles students from Suva Intermediate were featured on popular NBC show, "The Sing Off"! The famous national show featured the country's top ten a cappella groups performing popular songs. The groups sang for America's vote, with the winner walking away with a major prize. Hosted by multi-platinum recording artist Nick Lachey, the one-of-a-kind battle of voices consisted of celebrity judges who critiqued the singing groups with their expertise.
 The week prior to the show's airing, NBC's production team visited After-School All-Stars, LA students with one of the finalist a cappella groups, Committed. The singing group enjoyed visiting with students and seeing After-School All-Stars programs such as dance, rugby, and even academic tutoring! Students in the after-school organization's music programs sang and performed for the NBC show finalists. Afterward, Committed sang Akon's "Hold On" for the students, who were all wowed by their incredible talents.
 The evening the show aired, 5 million people tuned in to watch the show's finale. Before Committed sang "Hold On" live in front of the entire nation, their school visit with After-School All-Stars, students was shown in a heartwarming holiday-time feature; highlighting the difference the program makes in the students' lives. Committed eventually won the ultimate prize - a Sony Music recording contract and $100,000!
About After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles
Founded by Governor Schwarzenegger, After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles (ASAS-LA) is a leading after-school program provider whose programs educate, enlighten and inspire thousands of students each day through after-school activities centered around health, fitness and nutrition; the visual and performing arts; and youth leadership and community service learning. ASAS-LA brings innovative, cutting-edge enrichment programs to K-12 students that contribute to reducing drug use, crime and violence; while increasing the safety of students in the after school hours. The organization serves 11,000 students at 25 schools located in disadvantaged areas throughout LA County.
ASAS-LA is part of the national After-School All-Stars, which provides after school programs in 13 cities, serving over 80,000 students.
www.la-allstars.org
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Staff Highlight
| Andrea Kamins, Development Without Limits
New York, NY
Andrea Kamins is a great example of how  someone who has their heart in youth development can carve out a varied and challenging career in the field. After running the youth internship program at Opening Doors and Building Bridges, an afterschool program based at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School on New York City's west side for several years, Andrea struck out on her own as a consultant in the field. For the past five years as Associate Director of Development Without Limits, Andrea has been dedicated to helping other youth professionals develop the skills and competencies they need to be successful in their work. By providing professional development, and creating curriculum and other resources for out-of-school time programs in New York and nationally, Andrea is able to have an impact on many more young people than she did when she focused on direct service full time.
What makes Andrea special, in addition to being an creative and dynamic trainer and curriculum writer, is that she makes a real point of remaining connected to direct service. While many people who leave direct service never look back, Andrea seeks out opportunities to work directly with young people in meaningful ways. In her role at DWL, Andrea often pilot-tests the curriculum she writes, or provides workshops to young people participating in internship or youth employment programs. Above and beyond that, she uses her own personal time to volunteer to work with young people, as a counselor at the week-long Willie Mae Rock and Roll Camp for girls each summer, and she recently led a group of youth on a community service excursion to the Dominican Republic on behalf of the International YMCA. Andrea infuses the insight, inspiration and creativity she gains from these experiences into every staff training, or curriculum she is involved with, and it is a testament to the field of afterschool that a young professional as creative and smart as she is remains so dedicated and energetic.
- Nominated and submitted by:
Eric Gurna, Executive Director
Development Without Limits
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 us at inspire@boostcollaborative.org |
| Research | Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic
With one in four U.S. public school  students dropping out of high school before graduation, America continues to face a dropout epidemic. Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic, released November 30 by America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, shows that we can end the dropout epidemic, even in schools from lower-income, urban and rural districts that many previously thought were hopeless.
The U.S. graduation rate increased from 72 percent in 2002 to 75 percent in 2008. The report reveals that the number of "dropout factory" high schools fell by 13 percent - from 2,007 in 2002 to 1,746 in 2008. While these schools represent a small fraction of all public high schools in America, they account for about half of all high school dropouts each year. Experts say targeting these high schools for improvement is a critical part of turning around the nation's dropout rate.
To download the report please click here.
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| Youth Activity Connection | Student Quotes
Every year we ask students from around the country to answer questions in order to better understand youth perspective and remind us of the importance of our work. This is a fun activity to do with you students. Please download the documents below and have your students complete them. We look forward to highlighting your students at the BOOST Conference.
Click here to download the student quotes template.
Do you have a great activity that you would like to share in our newsletter? If so, please email us at inspire@boostcollaborative.org |
Professional Development Opportunity
| The 22nd Annual CCS Labor Management Conference
Tough times call for all of us to bring our ingenuity and creativity to the table. And to sharpen our skills and the tools in our toolkits. Labor and management working together through times of crisis and challenge can build
a solid foundation for the future, and find opportunities-even when they thought none existed.
CCS and it's partners worked to put together to bring you a conference program that will help you:
· Get up close and personal in dialog with mediators, arbitrators and fact-finders-getting your questions answered and learning their views on successfully working with third-party neutrals
· Get the latest labor law updates-from neutral sources and with labor and management perspectives
· Learn directly from the NLRB and PERB, as well as experienced labor and management advocates, about ways to effectively bring a case before these agencies
· Find the best strategies to address hot topic areas
· Strengthen your negotiation and conflict resolution skills
· Keep your labor-management relationship from landing on the rocks in these challenging times To see the full brochure please click here. |
| 2011 Free the Bowl Video Contest | |
 The Free the Bowl Video Contest empowers youth (ages 10-20) to make original "counter-beer-ads" to oppose inappropriate exploitative alcohol ads during TV sports events like the Super Bowl.
Why The Free the Bowl Video Contest?
-5,000 people under the age of 21 die annually from alcohol-related injuries involving underage drinking, while alcohol-related problems from underage drinking cost the country $60 billion.
-Teens who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until they are 21.
How to Enter
-Youth 10-20 years-old may participate and compete for prizes
-Create an original counter-beer-ad 30-60 seconds long
-This year's contest asks for "performance" ads that promote the message: Free the bowl from beer ads!
-Original music, dance, rap, or spoken word entries due by January 21, 2011
For more information or to submit an entry, visit www.freethebowl.com
This contest is being offered by the Marin Institute Alcohol Watchdog. Click here to learn more about the Marin Institute.
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| Funding Opportunities | Ordered by Deadline
To see more funding opportunities please click here.
Toyota Tapestry Grants for Science Teachers - January 18, 2011
The Foundation supports the concept that children who learn to enjoy reading at an early age continue to read throughout their lives. In order to develop a love of reading, children must have access to books which stretch their imaginations, touch their emotions, expand their horizons. The Foundation works with the library's Friends of the Library or other local organizations because we believe in community involvement and want to encourage and reward local support of libraries. The Friends, or other local sponsors, can contribute from $50 to $350 which the Foundation matches on a 2-to-1 ratio. Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new, quality, hardcover children's books through the Foundation's "Books for Children" program.
Libri Foundation Books For Children Grants - January 23rd
The Foundation supports the concept that children who learn to enjoy reading at an early age continue to read throughout their lives. In order to develop a love of reading, children must have access to books which stretch their imaginations, touch their emotions, expand their horizons. The Foundation works with the library's Friends of the Library or other local organizations because we believe in community involvement and want to encourage and reward local support of libraries. The Friends, or other local sponsors, can contribute from $50 to $350 which the Foundation matches on a 2-to-1 ratio. Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new, quality, hardcover children's books through the Foundation's "Books for Children" program.
Federal National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards Program: Coming Up Taller Awards - Jan 31, 2011 The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is pleased to invite applications for the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards. The twelve award-winning programs this year will receive $10,000 and an invitation to accept their award from the President's Committee's Honorary Chairman, First Lady Michelle Obama at a ceremony at the White House. In addition, winners will receive an award plaque, the opportunity to attend the Annual Awardee Conference in Washington, DC in the summer of 2011, and will be featured on the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award website.
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