The Martin County Out-of-school Time Quality Improvement Initiative supports out-of-school time (OST) programs, funded by the Children's Services Council of Martin County with ongoing quality coaching, onsite training, mentoring of youth development strategies and professional development. OST programs support children and youth before school, after school, summer, weekends and during seasonal breaks.
A seal that indicates that the program is committed to offering high quality programing and that the program is a participant of the Quality Improvement Initiative.
Stories from Martin County
The Martin County Board of County Commissioners - REACH (Residents Empowering All Children's Hope) Program in Stuart, Florida celebrated Valentine's Day with a self-love activity called, I Am Love. I Am Love focused on the youth identifying the traits they admire in themselves, brainstorming a list of personal attributes that they love about themselves and creating an affirmation chain to display for everyone to see.
Martin County Trainings
Promoting Responsibility and Leadership in Youth - VIRTUAL
October 15, 2025 - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
In this workshop, we explore how and why to promote responsibility and provide leadership opportunities to youth. Responsibility emerges when youth have opportunities to take on increasingly difficult social obligations. In doing so, they become responsible for carrying out tasks, roles, and demands and they become responsible to others who are depending on them do follow through on those obligations. In this training, you will learn how to apply techniques that encourage youth ownership, accountability, and decision-making over tasks.
Training Objectives
Participants will:
- Utilize skills to support youth in understanding how their interests, strengths and leadership style influence relationships and group dynamics.
- Apply techniques that encourage youth ownership, accountability, and decision-making over tasks.
- Model skills that build clarity of roles and responsibilities among youth.
Core Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies Addressed (CKSCs)
Relationships and Interactions with Children
Enhancing Group Experiences
Identify - A. Recognizes the impact of group dynamics on learning and development and that working with groups is different from working with individuals.
Apply - C. Plans and guides group activities to teach children and youth cooperation and collaboration.
Youth Engagement, Voice, and Choice
Apply – C. Works with young people to create an environment that offers various opportunities for youth leadership and input.
Amplify - C. Supports others development and implementation of professional development plans.
Primary QIS Scales Addressed
III. Interactive Environment
III. Fostering Teamwork
IIIM. Promoting responsibility and leadership
III. Engaging Environment
IVL. Supporting Young People’s Interest
Managing Emotions in OST - VIRTUAL
October 18, 2025 - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
This introductory session is designed to build practitioners' knowledge of emotion coaching and develop skills they will incorporate into program activities that teach youth to identify and safely manage their emotional experiences. The purpose is to improve program quality by strengthening and supporting practitioners’ acknowledgement and reflection of their personal emotional landscapes and activations, while also increasing their ability to facilitate the cultivation of skills in the emotional domain of resiliency and life skills with young people. Practitioners are encouraged to continue to deepen learning through the Well-being and Life Skills Initiative and/or other related training offerings on the Prime Time Calendar.
Training Objectives
Participants will:
- Understand the framework for resiliency and life skills generally, and where Emotion Coaching fits within the framework.
- Recognize cultural and social factors impact the ways emotions are understood and interpreted.
- Practice skills that model empathy and encourage youth to accurately name and manage emotions.
- Identify best practices and plan for supporting emotion management and emotion coaching in youth programming.
Core Knowledge, Skills and Competencies Addressed (CKSCs)
Child/Youth Growth and Development
Identify - F. Identifies physical, cognitive, language and communication, social and emotional, and creative development benchmarks.
Apply - C. Communicates about physical, cognitive, language and communication, social and emotional, cultural and creative differences among children and youth.
Learning Environments and Curriculum
Physical and Cognitive Development
Apply - B. Implements strategies to develop young people’s self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship-building and responsible decision-making skills.
Relationships and Interactions with Children and Youth
Individual Child / Youth Guidance
Provides a supportive environment in which children and youth can learn and practice pro-social behaviors.
Primary QIS Scales Addressed
I. Safe Environment
I-E. Creating Safe Spaces
I-E-1. Foster positive climate
I-E-2. Convey warmth and respect
I-E-3. Provide support for safe space
II. Supportive Environment
II-G. Emotion Coaching
II-G.1. Acknowledge emotions
II-G.2. Support young people to name emotions
II-G. 3. Discuss constructive handling
II-G. 4. Discuss emotion causes
III. Interactive Environment
III-K. Sense of Belonging
III-K.1. Young people get to know each other
III-N. Cultivating Empathy
III.N.2. Encourage understanding other’s emotions
III.N.4. Support valuing of differences.
Training Testimonial
After Reframing Behavior Management training concluded on October 19, 2022, including 45 attendees, Prime Time professional development manager asked what their take-away was from the three-hour session.
Hear from Candice Delions from the Boys & Girls Clubs Martin County - Bill and Barbara Whitman Branch in the video below.
Q&A
Q: Are programs in Martin County offered incentives and scholarships?
A: Not at this time.
Q: Who is the point-of-contact for this Initiative?
A: Lynn Stanavitch, Prime Time Quality Improvement Initiative Project Manager. Her contact information is located on the right.
Q: Can we attend events and trainings offered by Prime Time in Palm Beach County?
A: Not at this time. Please register for the trainings that are offered on this webpage.
More Information
Contact
DANIEL HUDSPETH
Quality Improvement Initiative Project Manager
561-327-4171 ext. 131
dhudspeth@primetimepbc.org
Afterschool Professionals Learn How to Elevate Every Day Activities for the Youth in Their Programs
On December 1, 2022, Prime Time Palm Beach County hosted its Brunch and Learn where afterschool practitioners who are participants of the Palm Beach County Quality Improvement System attended. Attendees began with a welcoming icebreaker that included an introduction where they were told describe their mood according to a pie chart. Cherry pie for those…
Loxahatchee Groves Elementary Afterschol Program Performs Concert for Families and Friends
The Lions’ Pride Strummers Ukulele Band at Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School presented three concerts as part of an afterschool offering with Prime Time expanded learning opportunity provider the Young Singers of the Palm Beaches. During the week of November 14, 2022, students, staff, families and friends watched the band of 28 children and youth perform…
