Everyone wants to get new employees onboard and working effectively with youth as quickly as possible. What does it really take to prepare a new employee to work in out-of-school time programs?

Summer is winding down, and everyone's gearing up for the next school year. It always seems to go by so fast! I feel like every summer I have a long to-do list, both personally and professionally, and it never fails that I don't complete everything on my list (or like this summer any of the things on my list). 

By some measures, there are more youth of color in the U.S. than white students, yet the afterschool and K-12 workforce remains largely white, middle-class, and female. It's more important now than ever to think about ways to make sure you are including all of your youth.

Designing and facilitating a dynamic, enriching, hands-on, active project-based summer program. The key to dynamic, enriching, hands-on and fun summer programming is to facilitate in-depth activities covering multiple curricular areas building upon each other over the course of the summer. While allowing student ownership which creates energy and buy-in on their part.