Integrating Well-being and Life Skills in Your Afterschool Program
Well-being has become fundamental to learning, thriving, and succeeding in life. Well-being is cultivated through the strengthening of resiliency and life skills. Studies show that when youth name, notice and reflect on their experiences, thought and emotion processes, behaviors and social interactions in a positive and inclusive environment, they are better equipped to proactively respond to challenging life situations, more ready to learn and better able to perform in educational and work settings.
Prime Time Palm Beach County’s Well-being and Life Skills Initiative is an innovative professional learning opportunity designed to build resiliency and life skills among children and youth in afterschool based on best practices in the field and in alignment with national and state health and resiliency standards. This new initiative is focused on building an afterschool climate and culture whereby youth thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially, succeed in academic and extracurricular endeavors, build more positive and productive relationships, and engage in acts of kindness and service to others.
To this end, enrolled staff will undergo resiliency and life skills professional learning journey comprised of eight trainings supported by coaching. In each training session, participants incrementally practice and build crucial skills, from self-awareness and self-management to empathy and compassion as well as gratitude and service to others. Learning happens through simulations of Afternoon Meeting components, behind-the-scenes analysis on how to build community and teach resiliency and life skills to youth in creative and fun ways, real-time peer facilitation of Afternoon Meeting using sample lessons, and planning time with templates to build customized Afternoon Meeting lessons.
What is Afternoon Meeting?
The Afternoon Meeting is the out-of-school time complement to the Morning Meeting that helps to ensure continued well-being and life skills are being built with a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. focus. Morning/Afternoon Meeting is an interactive group practice that teaches explicit well-being and life skills to youth. The Afternoon Meeting, like the Morning Meeting, entails an intentional circle gathering where the adult models and facilitates four activity segments, namely, the Greeting, the Sharing, the Activity and the Message.
Each segment is designed to:
- incrementally build positive adult-youth and youth-youth communication and interaction,
engage youth in positive behavior, - provide opportunities for adult and youth to builld well-being and life skills,
- promote equity by giving youth voice and choice during meeting activities, and
- create explicit connections between well-being and life skills and academic learning.
The Afternoon Meeting also provides an opportunity to apply signature Well-being and Life Skill practices that teach youth how to transition their hearts and minds from one activity to another so that these practice may become more integrated across the out-of-school time program.
Register for Well-being and Life Skills Training Series
Well-being has become fundamental to learning, thriving, and succeeding in life. Well-being is cultivated through the strengthening of resiliency and life skills. Studies show that when youth name, notice and reflect on their experiences, thought and emotion processes, behaviors and social interactions in a positive and inclusive environment, they are better equipped to proactively respond to challenging life situations, more ready to learn and better able to perform in educational and work settings.
Register today for an innovative professional learning opportunity designed to build resiliency and life skills among children and youth in afterschool based on best practice in the field and in alignment with national and state health and resiliency standards. Together, we focus on building an afterschool climate and culture whereby youth thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially, succeed in academic and extracurricular endeavors, build more positive and productive relationships, and engage in acts of kindness and service to others.
Participating programs will receive:
- Specialized professional learning and coaching supports to explicitly embody and model adult well-being and teach youth resiliency and life skills to K-5 groups in afterschool
- In-person observations and on-demand coaching to successfully integrate well-being and life skills in your daily routine
- Resilient Leadership Academy with advanced cross-site community of practice peer problem-solving labs for successful ongoing implementation
- Resource bag with Afternoon Meeting curricula, lesson-planning tools plus free access to the Inner Explorer mindfulness practice application
- Training stipends (up to $255) and up to 2.1 CEUs upon successful completion of training requirements
Participants are REQUIRED TO ATTEND ALL TRAININGS in the series, complete an observation and a coaching session at their program site and assignments in between trainings.
By registering for this initiative, you are committing to all training session dates.
The following is a schedule of the professional development trainings for the Well-being and Life Skills Spring cohort.
PRE-REQUISITE - If you have already completed this training, you do not need to take it again.
Resiliency and Life Skills Basics Onboarding Self-Paced Training (one-hour pre-requisite)
A self-paced one-hour training module is available on a monthly rotation on the Prime Time training calendar for completion at your convenience.
Training Schedule is hybrid with two in-person sessions.
Well-being and Life Skills Series
- Part 1 – Introduction to Well-being: October 1, 2024
- Part 2 – Growing into My Best Self: October 8, 2024
- Part 3 – The Art of Social Connection: October 15, 2024 **IN PERSON**
- Part 4 – Responding to Stress Trauma and Uncertainty: October 22, 2024
- Part 5 – Making Resiliency a Habit: October 29, 2024
- Part 6 – Empathetic Communication, Strong Relationships: November 5, 2024
- Part 7 – Building a Culture of Compassion and Inclusion: November 12, 2024
- Part 8 – Expressing Gratitude and Serving the Community: November 19, 2024 **IN-PERSON**
Resilient Leadership Academy (Directors and Assistant Directors only)
- Session 1 – September 17, 2024
- Session 2 – December 3, 2024
*Prerequisite: Resiliency and Life Skills Basics Onboarding self-paced online training.
Well-being and Life Skills Series Training Objectives:
- Cultivate foundational understanding of resiliency and life skills and the science-based benefits for adults and youth.
- Practice and reflect on adult-focused well-being practices in intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts.
- Learn, apply, and plan lessons and strategies of the responsive classroom approach to afternoon meeting and best practice for resiliency and life skills instruction to youth in afterschool settings.
- Explore innovative ways to create a positive and inclusive climate and culture through integration of well-being, resiliency and life strategies in staff interactions and youth activities.
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, Social/Emotional, and Cognitive Development
Identify - A. Recognizes that change, stress, and transition affect social and emotional development and behavior.
Apply- B. Implements strategies to develop young people’s self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship-building and responsible decision-making skills, C. Models healthy interactions and guides children and youth in self-awareness, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision making, D. Incorporates activities promoting cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development, E. Is responsive and encourages learning through questions, active listening, problem-solving activities, and conversations, F. Adapts cognitive and physical activities and interactions to support diverse needs, abilities, and interests, G. Supports children and youth in developing a sense of self, H. Facilitates learning and other opportunities that reflect the cultures and values represented in the local community.
Relationships and Interactions with Children and Youth
Individual Child / Youth Guidance
A. Provides a supportive environment in which children and youth can learn and practice pro-social behaviors,
B. Guides child/youth behavior in positive, developmentally, and culturally responsive ways,
C. Shows self-respect and respect for others,
D. Practices positive, healthy interactions and guides children and youth in self-awareness, social awareness, relationship building, and responsible decision making.
Enhancing Group Experiences
Apply – D Identifies child/youth abilities and corresponding positive guidance techniques to support successful group experiences.
Youth Engagement Voice and Choice
Apply – E. Develops the capacity for self-reflection, communication, empathy, and appreciation of the various cultures and diverse opinions of children and youth.
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, I-E-4. Demonstrate positive group management style, I-E-5. Demonstrate mutual accountability, I-E-6. Show active inclusion.
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.H. Scaffolding Learning: II.H.2. Model skills.
II.I. Fostering Growth Mindset: II.I.1. Guide young people to self-correct, II.I.2. Use non-evaluative language, II.I.3. Attribute achievement to effort.
II.J. Active Engagement: II.J.1. Staff actively involved with young people.
III. Interactive Environment
III-K. Sense of Belonging: III-K.1. Young people get to know each other, III-K.2. Inclusive relationships
III-L. Fostering Teamwork: III.L.1. Promote active collaboration. III.L.2. Establish shared goals.
III-M. Promoting Responsibility and Leadership: III.M.1. Assign responsibility for tasks, III.M.2. Support carrying out responsibilities independently, III.M.3. Provide mentoring opportunities, III.M.4. Provide leadership opportunities
III-N. Cultivating Empathy: III.N.1. Structure activity for sharing and listening, III.N.2. Encourage understanding other’s emotions. III.N.3. Structure activities for showing kindness, III.N.4. Support valuing of differences.
IV. Engaging Environment
IV.P. Supporting Young People’s Interests: IV.P.1. Provide open-ended choice, IV.P.2. Provide multiple opportunities for choice, IV.P.3. Support creativity.
IV.R. Reflection: IV.R.1. Intentional reflection, IV.R.2. Multiple reflection strategies, IV.R.3. Young people make presentations. IV.R.4. Structured opportunities to provide feedback
