Watch: Afterschool Matters Dialogue on Approaches to OST Staff Training

November 23, 2020

On Tuesday, November 17, 2020, the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) hosted a virtual webinar as part of the Afterschool Matters Dialogue series. The program was moderated by Georgia Hall, Ph.D., director of NIOST, and featured two guest speakers who discussed their approaches to out-of-school time (OST) staff training.

The first speaker was Maggie Winarski, an afterschool program coordinator with the City of New Britain Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department in New Britain, CT. Winarski discussed the ways her own research was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how she championed adapting her afterschool programming to new protocols. Winarksi described this process as “playing a game with no rules.” She said, “our roadmap has changed dramatically, and I think we need to recreate what our path is.” Winarski recounted some of the struggles her staff faced in navigating new technology and emphasized the importance of self-care -- especially during times such as these.

The second speaker on the panel was Brandis Stockman, Deputy Director with Promise South Salt Lake in Utah. Stockman described her process in creating the “Training That Sticks” model for OST staff. After closely studying existing models of training, Stockman formulated a strategy she felt would be specifically effective for OST professionals.

“The out-of-school time workforce is a pretty unique workforce,” said Stockman. “When you’re thinking about that workforce, you definitely need to find a unique approach to training.” Her primary goal was to create a model for training and behavior management that would result in long-lasting results.

Both speakers were fellows of the National Afterschool Matters Fellowship, a one-year professional development and leadership training program hosted by NIOST at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College and generously funded by the Robert Bowne Foundation.