Cambridge Agenda for Children Out-of-School Time
  • Our Work
    • Cambridge OST Coalition
    • OST Learning Institute
    • Elementary School OST Network
    • Middle School Network
    • Quality Improvement System
  • News & Events
    • OST Expansion Project Updates
    • OST Learning Institute Updates
    • ESON Updates
    • MSN Updates
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Events Calendar
  • Stories of Family Partnership
    • The Importance of Meaningful Connections
    • Talking with Kids About Race
    • Committing to Racial Equity
    • Common Ground
    • Parent Voices
    • Showing Them that They Matter
    • Showing us What they Know
    • Empathizing with Parents
    • Building Dialogue
    • Creating a Welcoming Culture
    • Celebrating Families
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Blog
    • How to Write a Blog Post for AFCOST
    • Professional Development Reports
    • Find It Cambridge
    • Cambridge STEAM Initiative
    • History of Afterschool Documentary
  • About Us
    • Mission and Beliefs
    • Our Ways of Being
    • History
    • Organizational Structure
    • Who we are
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
  • Our Work
    • Cambridge OST Coalition
    • OST Learning Institute
    • Elementary School OST Network
    • Middle School Network
    • Quality Improvement System
  • News & Events
    • OST Expansion Project Updates
    • OST Learning Institute Updates
    • ESON Updates
    • MSN Updates
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Events Calendar
  • Stories of Family Partnership
    • The Importance of Meaningful Connections
    • Talking with Kids About Race
    • Committing to Racial Equity
    • Common Ground
    • Parent Voices
    • Showing Them that They Matter
    • Showing us What they Know
    • Empathizing with Parents
    • Building Dialogue
    • Creating a Welcoming Culture
    • Celebrating Families
  • Resources
    • Publications
    • Blog
    • How to Write a Blog Post for AFCOST
    • Professional Development Reports
    • Find It Cambridge
    • Cambridge STEAM Initiative
    • History of Afterschool Documentary
  • About Us
    • Mission and Beliefs
    • Our Ways of Being
    • History
    • Organizational Structure
    • Who we are
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
Learning & Teaching

BLOG

Celebrate Afterschool Professionals April 21-25

4/14/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Agenda for Children OST is celebrating Afterschool Professionals Appreciation Week, April 21-25, to recognize, appreciate and advocate for those who work with young people during out-of-school hours.

We are joining the effort because research shows that Afterschool Professionals make a profound difference in the lives of young people. We encourage you to join us in thanking afterschool professionals!

Here are some ideas to show your appreciation:
  • Declare on social media: "Research shows that Afterschool professionals make a profound difference in the lives of young people. #heartofafterschool"
  • Give a hand-written card from you and/or your child to the afterschool professionals you know.
  • Send an email to an afterschool professional's supervisor describing why that person is appreciated.
  • Make healthy or non-food treats for the staff at your afterschool program.
  • For more resources and information, check out: https://naaweb.org/page/AfterschoolProfessionalsAppreciationWeek
0 Comments

Sharing Resources to Help OST Programs Navigate

2/19/2025

0 Comments

 
At the Agenda for Children OST, we are committed to supporting Cambridge Out-of-School Time programs as you navigate the ongoing federal policy changes that are directly impacting vulnerable children, youth, and families. We understand that keeping up with these constant changes is challenging—especially when many of these actions conflict with our core values and the needs of our communities. These shifts can feel threatening, designed to instill fear, distract us, and drain our energy, often leaving us feeling hopeless and powerless.

Now, more than ever, it is crucial for us to connect, share our collective wisdom, and draw on our strength. We are deeply grateful to be part of a community that is committed to ensuring equitable access to quality afterschool programs.

To support you, we’ve compiled several resource guides that we hope will be useful. We also invite you to share any additional resources that could benefit your peers and colleagues. Use this form to send us your recommendations.
​
If you need any support or have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Khari ([email protected]) or Susan ([email protected]). We are here to help.
Navigating Federal Policy Changes: A Resource Guide for Youth Development Programs
Resources for Supporting Mixed Status and Undocumented Families
Resources for Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth in Cambridge
0 Comments

2024 Rollin’ & Summer Resources

3/14/2024

0 Comments

 
by Khari Milner, Co-Director, Agenda for Children OST
Picture
More than 650 Cambridge parents and caregivers attended the third Annual Rollin’ & Summer Resources event, where they learned about how to sign up their children for summer programs. The event took place on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at the Cambridge Street Upper School/King Open Community Complex. More than 50 summer camp and other service providers attended. Families enjoyed plenty of pizza, samosas, wraps, snacks, drinks, popcorn and snow-cones! Children roller skated, made art projects, tried parkour, played life-sized board games, built basketball skills, and more. 
​
Families throughout the city accessed school bus transportation to and from the event. They received support to explore program options from: Summer program staff, members of the Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) Family Engagement Team, Cambridge Agenda for Children Out of School Time staff, and CPS parents and caregivers from The Village.  Multilingual Family Liaisons and Community Engagement Team Outreach Workers provided translation and interpretation for families -- including many migrant families who have recently arrived to our city and district.


Read More
0 Comments

Refresher Playlist for the New Year

1/10/2022

0 Comments

 
​Tips for out-of-school time staff to weather the moment
from Melina O'Grady, Quality Improvement Coach and Facilitator
Picture
Balance media consumption. You can stay informed and in balance. The barrage of negative news of all kinds can leave us feeling afraid, angry, helpless. It’s ok to take breaks, to tune down or tune out for short and longer stretches. Practice spending as much time creating, exercising, socializing, reflecting, being silent, singing, dancing, playing, sketching, and dreaming as you do catching up on the day’s news.

Add in daily doses of laughter. Laughter can be a great antidote to global pandemic stress! Find different ways to nurture your humorous side, and reach out to people who make you smile. Smiles are contagious!

​Build your brain. Taking care of your cognitive side can boost your esteem, help you make better decisions, give you more insight. Read and listen to things you’re interested in – science, technology, astronomy, deep oceans, dense rain forests, languages, cultures, your own ancestry, even the neurological impacts of stress.  STEAM habits of mind refers to this as the practice of “Stretch and explore.”  More on adolescent cognitive development here. More on learning how to manage secondary stress here. 

Read More
0 Comments

Is Your Program a Safe Space?

10/28/2021

0 Comments

 
By Beck Govoni, ​After School Coordinator at the Cambridge YMCA
PictureImage By: itzlitwrite on etsy
“Safe Space” reads the sign on your program door. As you enter you pause, perhaps for the first time, you actually pause and think about those words written across an upside down triangle. You survey your classroom. Is your program a safe space? Who or what is it a safe space for? What is the point of the sign on your door?

These questions and line of thinking is the first step to working towards creating a safe space for transgender and gender nonconforming youth in your program. Creating a safe space is more than putting a couple of stickers on your door and calling it a day, yet as everyone who works with youth knows, stickers do hold great importance.


Read More
0 Comments

TEACHING, LEARNING AND PLAYING WITH DIGNITY AND JUSTICE​

3/4/2021

0 Comments

 
What Leaders Must Do to Ensure Building Culturally Responsive Afterschool Programs
​by Lissette Castillo
PicturePhoto by Lisette Castillo
By definition, “culturally responsive” education must, among other things, “use the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them.” In addition, “challenging racial and cultural stereotypes, prejudices, racism and other forms of … oppression” is a defining element of the term, coined by Dr. Geneva Gay.

Considering the current chaotic state of our nation, the miseducation of children of color and the widening opportunity gap—often erroneously called the achievement gap—it’s time to eradicate the consistent and oppressive structures of racism in educational programs.

Students of African and/or Indigenous descent (DAIP) deserve programs exhibiting a range of practices that honor their identities, linguistic assets and cultures—in addition to de-centering whiteness from our learning spaces and collective learning, and grounding that is centered within the context of culture and race.


Read More
0 Comments

If we approached the task as the "village" . . .

9/14/2020

5 Comments

 
A Reflection by Mia Klinger. September 2020
Picture
The obstacles to returning to classrooms are not teachers and increasing the number of measures in the name of accountability, like having school personnel work from empty classrooms, neither improve teaching nor keep children safer.

Aging school buildings with their windows stuck shut for years cannot meet the demands of this moment.

​This is not about teachers or their commitment to their work.

COVID-19 is the issue and districts must now reckon with the many inequalities that it lays bare.

Private schools are finding solutions; families with means are schooling through pods or finding the childcare support that allows parents to work.  For most of our students, these are not options.

Some districts have been upfront about the difficulties maintaining the six feet of spacing between students that are needed to stay healthy, and they will struggle with children who cannot show compliance to this or other requirements because they are traumatized and reactive.

Our children are flooded by the fears of their adults- caregivers and teachers, who cannot provide the message that underscores all effective teaching, "You are safe here."

Outdoor space is only a temporary solution in New England, but temporary is not a waste of time or energy.

I had children in person in camp this summer. They were desperate for group experiences and for engagement.  I was equally in need of their laughter, their energy, and the chance to do what I love- teach!


Read More
5 Comments

Why are we still having to explain what we mean when we say (even in chalk) Black Lives Matter?

6/5/2020

1 Comment

 
By Mercedes Soto
Picture
 On Sunday, May 31st, my partner, 12-year-old son and I participated in the “Wee Chalk the Walk: A Family Day of Action for Black Lives,” to chalk messages of love, hope and support on our city sidewalks.  We walked up the block to City Hall, where we wrote the names of many, but not all, of the Black Americans who have been killed at the hands of police and vigilantes. A photo of our chalk memorial was included in a Cambridge Day article.

On Monday, June 1st, City Hall reopened to staff. As I returned from my morning walk, I noticed that someone had erased the word “Black” from “Black Lives Matter.” My first reaction was shock, anger, then (after a few deep breaths) curiosity. Why are we still having to explain what we mean when we say Black Lives Matter?

Nearly seven years ago, after the acquittal of the aggressor who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin while he was walking home from the store, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi founded the Movement for Black Lives and first used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.


Read More
1 Comment

Keep Stretching and Practicing with Compassion

5/8/2020

2 Comments

 
By Melinda Barbosa and bo lembo
Picture
Hey Compassion Champions!
Many of you "zoomed" into our workshop on April 30th.
You lifted our moods and made us feel hopeful for the future.
We appreciate your honesty about this challenging moment and how hard it is to talk about our feelings, especially when it feels like we don't know where to plant our feet.  

We prepare and think a lot about these spaces and practice being present in the moment with other humans (Youth Work 101!), which means sometimes some of the "technical" content gently gets woven through the workshop. We believe many of these things you already know, but may not have words for it yet. Here are the slides.
​

Keep reading and you will find more journaling prompts!​


Read More
2 Comments

Why is Everything So Hard?

4/23/2020

0 Comments

 
Alice Cohen shares her infinite wisdom to help us understand what is happening in our brains and bodies during this historic pandemic.  She helps us understand more about our how our feelings of disenfranchised grief are being processed by our limbic system. She explains why we're so distracted and anxious and how our executive functioning is impaired.  ​
​
Watch the video! Alice answers the questions: 
Why do things feel so hard?  And what do we need to get through this challenging time? 
  • We need connection.
  • We need mindfulness. 
  • We need to slow down and breathe.  
  • We need to treat the impact of social isolation in our homes and in our communities. 
  • We need self-compassion!
  • We have to let go sometimes.
  • We need to self-soothe regularly.  We're going to "lose it."  And that's ok.  We can regroup when we can't cope. We're modeling that for young people.  
  • We need to play and laugh.
  • Do things that make you feel good in your body. ​

​Remember, things feel hard, because they are! 
Be Well!   
And thank you, Alice!

If you'd like to share resources with your colleagues,  tell us how you are coping and healing, and helping the youth and families that you work with to heal, and continuing to find joy while we are physically apart,  please submit a blog post by emailing.  Here are some tips to help get you started. ​​

0 Comments

Socially Connected,  Movement from a Distance

4/8/2020

2 Comments

 
by Marlees West, Program Director, Frisoli Youth Center
Picture
As an extrovert, movement has long been my only solitary activity. Long runs help me center myself and  release some of my excess energy before I connect with others. In the last year, pilates has helped me to get ready for a day of: connecting to staff and young people and families; talking and learning, and teaching and thinking. By myself, at the end of the day, pilates helps me process everything that I learned, heard, and felt.

Like all of us, physical distancing has rocked my world.
I no longer have all those in-person social interactions to feed my extroverted soul. So, I created “Socially Distant Pilates People." I made my daily exercise routine a social time, initially with just a small group of 4. Over the last few weeks, our community has now grown to include more than 20 people. We 'FaceTime' ten minutes a day, once a day, every day, to do pilates together. That’s it! But that short ten minutes (followed by a virtual dance party) has felt really good. It’s kept me connected to my own identity as a teacher and facilitator (and now as an amateur pilates instructor!) and to my friends and family and friends of friends. It’s quickly become the best part of my day, lifting my mood and energy, and jump starting my creativity. I feel connected.


Read More
2 Comments

Collectively Grieving What We Have Lost

4/2/2020

0 Comments

 
By Mercedes Soto, Impact Evaluation Advisor, Agenda for Children OST
Picture
Yesterday, when I was walking and listening to a podcast, in the April Fool's Day early morning snow flurry, I saw this colorful child's drawing zip tied to a tree.  The message "We are in this fight together so we must remember to be kind to each other." brought me to tears.  I was overcome by this wave of grief for all of the people and the ways of life we've lost and the people and ways of life we are losing.     

Read More
0 Comments

Free Resources for Home Learning

3/18/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Dear OST Community,
We are living through unprecedented closings of schools, out-of-school time programs, and non-essential municipal services.  Our daily lives have been disrupted and many of us are worried about our children's learning, and supporting our families, our neighbors, and the children, youth and families our programs serve. 

It is important to take this time, when we have been taken out of our regular routines, to reflect on what is most important and what can we learn from this experience.  What are the ways that you are taking care of yourself so that you can care for others? 

Read More
1 Comment

Social Change Through Storytelling

1/6/2020

0 Comments

 
By Melinda Barbosa, Quality Coach and Trainer, Agenda for Children OST
Picture

We know storytelling can have long-term beneficial impacts in our work by creating a sense of belonging and connectedness, allowing us to reflect on our personal identities, and to build communities that create social change. 
 
When you have deadlines looming, progress reports to write, and a new curriculum unit to put together, it can feel like there’s not enough time to just talk. Storytelling is more than talking. It’s a practice in deep listening and noticing within ourselves to uncover what is actually important, and asking us to tend to the emerging needs of the group. 
 
Keep reading for some tips on how to bring storytelling to your team: 
​

Read More
0 Comments

Love and Leadership

12/4/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
On the last morning of the 2019 OST Symposium, Vanessa Fisher, Director of the Frisoli Youth Center, led a workshop entitled, Love and Leadership.  She shared her own journey to coming to understand that the real power of leadership is when you can express love and compassion in your interactions within the workplace while still getting the work done and accomplishing the mission. 

Click on this link to read Vanessa's handout and a participant's "take back" from one of the workshop exercises. We can all apply the wisdom shared in Vanessa's handout to any situation in which we are called to exercise leadership (which is a mindset, not just a position).


How do you bring love into your leadership?

​If you're interested in attending a future offering of this workshop please contact Barbara Murphy-Warrington at [email protected]. 
1 Comment

The Path to College Success

9/24/2019

0 Comments

 
In this video, a single Colombian mother tells us about the process of supporting her son to reach college after having faced a number of obstacles. She also tells us about how a CSI College Success Coach played a key role in the success of her son.
0 Comments

3 OST Lessons from Mr. Rogers

8/24/2018

0 Comments

 
by Jess Leach, Community Coordination Associate at Agenda for Children
Picture
Photo: Fred Rogers Company
Anyone else who’s ever worked in a summer program has almost certainly experienced the same day as this one: It started extremely humid and turned into torrential downpour. My throat burned from reaching my voice over hundreds of children’s, my limbs lagged, and my head throbbed… there was no word for how tired my body felt. That night, I decided the only thing I wanted to do - the only thing I could do - was sit in a dark, cool theater and watch a movie.

Read More
0 Comments

Youth Voice: Relationships with Staff and Self-Discovery

7/11/2018

0 Comments

 
Last week,  we met with Janna, Asia & Norah, three middle schoolers enrolled at the Gately Youth Center and asked them how they felt about relationships with youth workers. They spoke about how some youth workers became like family, helping them overcome challenges and supporting them to reach their goals. As Janna told us, "I feel like its my family because every time I have a problem they work it out with me. I feel safe here."

Read More
0 Comments

Connecting Books and (Reluctant) Readers

6/22/2018

5 Comments

 
by Emily Meyer, Youth Services Librarian at Cambridge Public Library
Picture
One of the first things I learned in library school was S. R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science: 

  1. Books are for use.
  2. Every reader his/her/their book.
  3. Every book its reader.
  4. Save the time of the reader.
  5. The library is a growing organism.​

Read More
5 Comments

The Power of the Outdoors

5/9/2018

1 Comment

 
By Jeneen Mucci, Director of Program Quality and Training, Cambridge Youth Programs
Picture
Jeneen leading a workshop on outdoor education at our 2017 OST Symposium
As a little girl I was always drawn to the outdoors.  Exploring my backyard or the woods with my canvas backpack and a thermos of chocolate milk, I would hike around, turn rotting logs over to see who made their underside their home, would listen for the chorus of birds that draped the canopy of trees, and I would be content just to be a part of the living and breathing landscape that allowed me to be part of something bigger than myself.  There was a mysterious pull that brought me into a world that was exciting, challenging and new. It brought me a sense of peace and most of all, it brought me closer to myself. 

Read More
1 Comment

4  games to get kids excited about mindfulness

4/30/2018

2 Comments

 
By Jess Leach, Community Coordination Associate at Agenda for Children, with Robyn Ginsberg, inclusion facilitator at Peabody 2-5
Picture
What is mindfulness? If you’re unfamiliar with the practice, that word might conjure an image of meditation - someone humming in total solitude, their mind empty, void of any complicated thought. When you see mindfulness in this way, it can feel impossible to involve young people. Robyn Ginsberg, inclusion facilitator at the Peabody 2-5 after school program, was experiencing that exact frustration when she first registered for Zach Soloman’s ​“Mindfulness for Kids” training in March.

Read More
2 Comments

What are your youth worker super powers?

4/10/2018

1 Comment

 
By Melina O'Grady, Quality Coach and facilitator at Agenda for Children
Picture
As a facilitator of youth development training for the past two years, I’ve noticed a few things. My own middle school years were a chaotic battle for self and a search for place in school and the social realm. I saw most adults as barriers rather than allies in my journey. That was many (so many!) years ago.


Read More
1 Comment

3 Ways To Engage Youth In Storytelling

3/9/2018

5 Comments

 
By Melinda Barbosa, Youth Development Consultant & Director
Picture
Every day, in and out of school, middle schoolers are exploring who they are in the world. As youth workers, we can help them shape their story. Every concern, problem or “drama” that middle schoolers share with us can be an entry point to helping them form their identity. How do they see themselves in their own story? Victim? Hero? Supernatural Aid/Mentor?


Read More
5 Comments

Why learn about youth development?

3/2/2018

3 Comments

 
By Jess Leach, teacher at Agassiz Baldwin Community and Community Coordinator Associate at Agenda for Children
Picture
My imaginary child "Jess Junior" and all the ways we thought she had changed and would change the in the future

Read More
3 Comments

Resources to affirm youth agency & empathy

2/26/2018

1 Comment

 
By George Hinds, Director of Youth Employment at the Office of Workforce Development, City of Cambridge
Picture
As youth workers, I think we live our lives with an inherent optimism. We walk into our jobs every day believing that the young people we work with are going to change the world, and that we can give them the tools and resources they’re going to need to do so.  Now, we’re practical, too…we know some of our youth will need more assistance or resources to reach the same heights as their peers.  We know that structures and systems in the world around us will sometimes do more to slow our youth down than to raise them up.  And so our optimism is tested.  And sometimes, it is pushed to the brink…tragedy strikes, seemingly intractable problems rear their heads, and we have those moments where we think nothing can change. 


Read More
1 Comment
<<Previous

    Archives

    April 2025
    February 2025
    March 2024
    January 2022
    October 2021
    March 2021
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    February 2017

    Categories

    All
    Professional Development
    Teaching Resources
    Youth Development

    RSS Feed

Cambridge Agenda for Children out-of-school time

Looking for something?
Contact Us
Picture



51 Inman Street 
Cambridge MA 02139
​617-349-4099

Picture
​135 Berkshire Street
Cambridge MA 02141 
617-349-6553

oUR fUNDERS

Picture
Picture
Copyright © 2017 Cambridge Agenda for Children Out-of-School Time