Master the art of planning a successful summer program in this episode of School After Hours. Join host J. Lee as she takes you through her tried and true strategies for preparing for summer program planning. Discover the importance of conducting feedback surveys with current students to ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met. Gain valuable insights into what aspects of the school year program should carry over to the summer, and learn how to incorporate core character values into your summer programming. Jay also shares her tips for brainstorming and planning, including the option of adopting a summer theme to enhance the overall experience. Don't miss out on crafting and disseminating your summer registration announcement well in advance to secure student participation. Tune in to equip yourself with the necessary tools and tips for an outstanding summer program that students and staff will rave about.
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J. Lee: Hello everyone, welcome to school after hours podcast,
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where we talk about all things related to out of school time
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program and education.
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I am your host, shae Lee, and it's going to be a solo episode
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today, just me myself and I, but there is something that I did
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want to talk to you about that is very important, okay, so, as
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you know, right, some of the time is coming up.
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All you're going to do is blink and it's going to be here.
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So this is the time to start to do what Prepare for that time.
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So the time of recording this is almost March, february, and
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now's about the time where you know you want to dig out your
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good notebook and pen and start writing down some things so you
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can get prepared for this short but long cleaning time of that
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school year, right?
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So, that being said, that's what I'm going to share with you
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today.
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I'm going to share with you some of the things that I do to
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prepare for summer planting.
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So we're going to go ahead and jump into it, all right?
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So one of the three things that I do to prepare for summer time
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planning is to make sure that I do a survey, or feedback survey,
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with the students that I currently have.
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This is very important to me because this is a great
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opportunity to see what is working and what's not working
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in your program and also see what things you want to transfer
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into the summer that you've been doing for the school year,
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because a good portion of the time the students that are
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participating in your program right now are going to be the
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kids that's going to show up for the summer time as well.
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So what better way to see what they like than to do a small
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survey, small group feedback activity?
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However, you want to do it just to see what is working and
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what's not working and see what you want to change.
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But it's also a good opportunity to see if what the
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core character values that you've been reinforcing over the
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year has stuck and the strategies that you use for
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those character development strategies.
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Is it something that you could carry over into the summer time
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as well, so you can consistently get that build right that
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you're looking for and that you want?
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So a feedback survey definitely important.
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That's one of the things that I do to prepare for my summer
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planning.
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I would do this before spring break, because after spring
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break, kids are not going to be thinking about anybody's
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feedback or giving their opinion about anything At that time.
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School is definitely preparing for a standardized testing day
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or wrapping up the end of the year All the things that are
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going to take place right after spring break.
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So if you can, please, I would strongly suggest Get the survey
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done before Spring break happens .
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You will be so thankful for it and it gives you kind of time to
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sit with yourself and plan your next step of what you want to
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do, which brings me to my step number two.
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Go ahead and start brainstorming .
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Take the time to write down all of your ideas that you have for
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the summer, also taking consideration the feedback that
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you just got right, that's what you got.
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Or take the surveys that you got from the students and go
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ahead and see what you could transfer into the Summertime
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when it comes to your planning work routines with things that
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you're doing that's working.
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You can go ahead and apply to the summertime Right.
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Then see what you can add to the summer to make it a little
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bit more fun, a little bit more engaging.
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You know, make it a full out great experience for the
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students, but also as well, as the staff will also take the
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time to decide if you want to do a summer theme.
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Sometimes that's great.
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It's a little bit easier when you're planning.
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However, you want to do it and whatever works best for you.
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But this is that time to decide if you want to go with a theme
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or you want to do something a little bit different.
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But always incorporate the feedback that you just got back
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from the students so they feel like their voices were heard in
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value.
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And last but not least, you want to put together your summer
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registration announcement.
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This will give parents an idea what you're going to be offering
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during the summer, but also when registration starts.
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The key thing is to make sure that you put it in front of
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parents so they are aware of when registration opens.
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What you do not want to happen is that they go ahead and look
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out to other Programs and then you're potentially losing a
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child for the summer, right?
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So if you go ahead and put your announcement together with you
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know some small detailed information, just give them a
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little tidbit of what you're going to be doing so that they
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can gain their interest.
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You know parents like to plan ahead of time.
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Some parents, you know, they're already looking for stuff as we
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speak to make sure they have something for their child to do
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for the summer.
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So it's best that they would want to go with you.
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Why?
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Because they've already built a relationship with you, they
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have a rapport with you, they know what the program is about,
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so more than likely they're going to want to stay with you
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as a program.
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If your registration is open within a specific amount of time
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, um, and if you want to, you could break it down into early
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registration, regular registration and then late
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registration.
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And the reason why I make that suggestion is because, as you're
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processing, there's summer paperwork.
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It gives you a buffer as an administrator to see how many
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spots you have left for programming, right?
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So if I do early registration and go ahead and put the kids
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where I need to, in their specific groups, and then I can
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see what groups have how many numbers left in them, okay, so
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when you go into your regular registration, you know you could
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say, hey, put a small announcement out for the parents
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, that's already in programming and you know out to the public.
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Hey, we only have about so-and-so spots left.
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First come, first serve.
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However you want to do it, go ahead and register as soon as
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possible.
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We'll let you all know when spots are filled, and then we'll
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open up a waiting list so they are fully informed, you know of
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their next steps and what's taking place, right?
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And then, after your regular registration, your late
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registration is this is what we got left.
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This is what we got left, and then we got to open up this
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waiting list, but you've done your due diligence and letting
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parents know, like, when Registration would start, and
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you also give yourself time that way to kind of process the
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paperwork that's coming in, because it's going to be a lot
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and please don't do it by yourself.
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If you need to recruit help, recruit help and have someone
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help you manage that paperwork, especially when you're putting
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it in the database, definitely get some help.
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Do not do it by yourself.
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But, like I said, it gives you an idea of what groups are full,
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which groups are not, all the things in between, so you can
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kind of let your parents know, or even the community, let the
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community know, like, what spots are open.
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Well, those are all the ways that I get ready to do summer
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planning.
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If you want to know more about my process, I will be going live
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on Instagram in March on Wednesdays at 12 o'clock Eastern
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time to give you more, to give you more detail about my
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planning process.
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So we're gonna be going deeper into the vision.
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What do you want to look like?
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Scheduling all the things?
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So kind of give you a rundown and idea and, you know, help you
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go through the process.
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So hopefully that will be the experience I'll be able to
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provide for you when I do these Instagram lives in March.
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So if you are not following us on Instagram, make sure that you
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do.
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Hello everyone, that brings us to the end of our show.
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If you like what you heard and you enjoyed our conversation,
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make sure that you're following us on YouTube, but also hit that
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like button so we know what you are enjoying.
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You can also find us on other podcast platforms like Apple
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Podcasts, spotify and Google Podcasts.
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If you want to listen to our audio version as well, to get
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more behind the scenes stuff, make sure that you're following
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us on our social media accounts Instagram and Facebook at school
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after hours.
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Well, that's all I have for today and the words of Mr Arthur
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Ashe start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.
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Until next time, y'all, bye, bye, you.
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