DENVER (PRWEB)
February 10, 2022

Afterschool or Out-of-School time (OST) programs such as 4-H or Boys & Girls Clubs provide children and teens a safe environment and the social, emotional, cognitive and educational development that in turn helps them to become well-rounded adults.

There are many benefits. According to youth.gov, “attending high-quality afterschool programs and regular participation can lead to improved social and emotional competencies, including prosocial behavior, intrinsic motivation, better concentration efforts, and higher sense of self-worth.“

The positive presence of caring and effective adult educators add to the success of these programs. According to a paper done by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, it found that “even one strong relationship has been shown to help young people avoid developmental disruption and build resilience.” Research by The Search Institute on developmental relationships found that “youth with more strong developmental relationships are more motivated in school, demonstrate more personal responsibility, have higher social-emotional competence, and are less likely to engage in risky behavior.”

Knowing how important their roles are in their interactions with participants, one public benefit corporation is launching a special online workshop experience to equip these OST professionals with the tools, techniques and easy-to-use approaches to strengthen their approach with young people, help them become more inspired with their lessons and fortify their connections with their participants while supporting their emotional and social growth.

Powered by the Denver-based organization StandUP, The Flourish Lab’s mission is to be a high quality resource for OST educators. The mission of StandUP is to use a unique relationship-building approach to work across sectors and age groups to offer impactful community-centered coaching and training.

In the Flourish Lab Program, participants focus on three pivotal areas: Positive Relationships, Inspired Planning and Powerful Presence. Amy Brady, StandUP’s founder as well as the program’s creator, explained the primary goal for the program.

“We want to ensure that before ever engaging with young people, every adult has access to expert guidance,” she said. “Why? So, these educators can understand how best to work with youth, and experience what a remarkable honor that is. We see these facilitators playing a very important role from the moment they are meeting these young people at the door to engaging in positive, meaningful interactions and activities to wrapping up the day.”

In the Relationships module, there is an emphasis on building positive, healthy connections with young people while understanding the importance of building a sense of belonging and restoring belonging if it becomes broken.

The Presence module focuses on choosing to show up with a heightened level of awareness. Here, participants learn mindful strategies to show up positively, how their presence impacts relationships with young people and what the ripple effect is of adult attitudes and behaviors.

The Planning module helps adults get control of their lessons, time, space and materials and gives them opportunities to focus on children in the moment. This module highlights unique lesson-planning strategies and practical time and materials management techniques that keep young people engaged.

Lana Hailemariam, partner with The Flourish Lab, explained how this program can be a valuable resource to organizations that are struggling with training OST professionals and job retention.

“We want to be accessible to the communities who need or want our program,” she said. “Afterschool programs provide community connection where OST educators are engaging in meaningful ways with young people and their families. We want OST programs to succeed and the way to do that is equipping the adult educators with the tools and techniques they need to give young people those social, emotional and reasoning skills to become confident adults.”

For further information about The Flourish Lab’s mission, please click on this link for a press kit.

Additionally, more information is on The Flourish Lab’s website.

About The Flourish Lab

The Flourish Lab offers practical, easy-to-use strategies and tools for youth-serving adults grounded in proven social-emotional practices.

In a series of guided experiences, adults turn the focus on themselves first, in order to show up as their best for the children they serve. This experiential workshop series offers accessible tools and strategies for self-discovery – you’ll be putting them into play right away.

The Flourish Lab incorporates three pivotal areas of focus: Relationships, Planning, Presence – which we believe when mastered, can generate remarkable results.

For more information, visit http://www.theflourishlab.org. ###

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