Author: Susan Diaz, Senior Director of Member Engagement, Every Hour Counts I am thrilled to reflect on the resounding success of the Every Hour Counts Let’s Make Waves! Conference 2023. The conference took place in the vibrant city of West Palm Beach, Florida, the home of Prime Time Palm Beach…

This is the third post in our series highlighting the promising approaches and insights coming from our Thriving Workforce Work Group, where leaders from our national network of intermediaries share their questions, challenges, and innovations as they work to build, retain, and support a Thriving Out-of-School Time (OST) Workforce that…

Jennifer Peck, the founding executive director of Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY), a statewide afterschool intermediary organization in California, opened her remarks with a confession: “I’m going to admit right up front, when I started in this work 25 years ago, I had no idea what an intermediary was.” …

By Desiree Morales, Every Hour Counts “Our students would have access to high quality workers that are happy and well supported! The field would be recognized for its critical role in our community.” …

Summer program managers all over the country are moving at a fast clip to launch a third summer supporting young people to learn, grow, and thrive in spite of the toll the pandemic has taken on their academic, social, and emotional learning. While much of the success of summer programs…

Recent discussion highlights how afterschool programs have used SEL strategies to help children throughout the pandemic Author: Wallace Foundation Editorial Team This article originally appeared on The Wallace Foundation Blog Site on January 19, 2022. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, educators around the country are seeing an increasing need to support young people who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, fear, trauma, food insecurity or even…

Desiree Morales, Every Hour Counts The prevailing story of Out-of-School Time (OST) during the pandemic feels triumphant — the value of our relationship-forward approach prioritizing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is in the spotlight, and the Biden administration pushed forward an unprecedented investment in afterschool and summer, recognizing that OST…

By Every Hour Counts “Tired. Stressed. Overwhelmed. Anxious.” These were among the first words heard by attendees of the 2021 Every Hour Counts National Conference. Some of the words that came next were, “Excited and happy. Curious where this will go. Determined.” The voices speaking these words came from young people in cities across…

Guest blog by Jodi Grant, Executive Director, Afterschool Alliance As we head into the 22nd year of Lights On Afterschool, the nation’s celebration of afterschool programs, I have mixed feelings. Should we be celebrating? After all, this isn’t the school year we hoped to have. …