Using case study methodology, this article analyzes the collaborative writing of three adolescent girls, one Latina and two Black, composing a group poem in an after-school spoken word poetry team. Drawing from literature on distributed cognition and embodiment, we found that participants utilized a system of writing techniques "on the…

Textual consumption in digital spaces has come under scrutiny by educators who worry about youth's surface-level comprehension of such texts as well as the polarizing nature of online discourse. This paper synthesizes affective concepts of critical witness and glimmers of care to explore two cases in which adolescent writers in digital OST…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacts approximately 1 in 44 children in the United States. Common characteristics of ASD are marked deficits in communication and social connectedness. As autistic children approach adolescence, there is a lack of interventions available to them. Mentoring can provide adolescents with a relationship that…

Background: Situated in urban Philadelphia, Autores Fuertes was part of a network of nonprofit community writing centers that provided a free afterschool writing academy for children ages 7 to 17. With a full-time lead educator and assistant educator, alongside several volunteer community educators, this center promoted itself as a…

The integration of expressive arts into trauma therapy has garnered significant attention for its ability to enhance healing and emotional processing. This article explores a proposed EMDR Drumming Protocol and therapeutic process for at-risk youth. It is a novel approach that combines the therapeutic power of Eye Movement Desensitization and…

We study the impact of teenage sports participation on early-adulthood health using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion. We focus on two primary outcomes measured at ages 23 to 28 (self-rated health and PHQ9 Patient Depression Questionnaire score) and control for several demographic and socioeconomic confounders. To probe the…

Teen Science Cafés are Out-of-School Time (OST) programs led by teens--for teens--underway at 84 sites in 34 states. Supported by a national network, a new teen leadership opportunity offered youth-focused training and collaborative opportunities to a cohort of 50 teens from 13 Café sites with the goal of sustaining and expanding the impact of…

Community-based youth-serving organizations are often seen by participants and their families as safe and supportive environments with no stigma attached to participation. Many children attend community-based afterschool programs five days a week. In such an environment, trusted adults can consistently monitor the moods and behaviors of…

As communities grapple with the harmful, inequitable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have been particularly hard on low-income and marginalized youth, renewed attention has been directed toward how out-of-school time (OST) programs can help youth reconnect and re-engage. In this article, the results of a systematic literature review on the…

The benefit of participating in Out-of-School Time (OST) arts programs has been widely documented in studies that often reflect impact over short timeframes. Youth arts organisations often bear extraordinary claims about the impact of programs, and the value they hold especially in the lives of those who face difficult social circumstances. This…

After-school programs can provide important contexts for youths' development and well-being. While these programs have the potential to serve as an anchor for refugee youth, previous research cites challenges with their access and engagement with them. Drawing on the Positive Youth Development Framework, which offers a lens on how after-school…

Introduction: Out-of-school time (OST) programs can have a positive impact on youth outcomes, including academic achievement and social-emotional development. However, there are vast inequities in program accessibility and quality, with low-income adolescents being particularly underserved. This study synthesizes research on OST programs serving…

Youth purpose was investigated using a two-phase embedded design with youth participating in Scouts BSA (N = 3,943), ages 9-20 (M = 14.0, SD = 1.9). Participating Scouts were mostly White (91%) and male (98%). In Phase 1, we conducted a two-step cluster analysis on Scouts' survey responses to three purpose dimensions (personal meaning,…

This article takes up three interrelated elements of Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy into an initial conceptual framework for moral education and explores a practical application of this framework to a lesson plan. The three elements are moral vocabulary, moral perception, and the quality of our states of consciousness. The framework constituted…

In light of the proven benefits of high-quality afterschool STEM programming for teens, the author worked with colleagues at University of Maryland Extension to institute the Pollinator Ambassador program. The program was launched through a county-based 4-H program at a partner site in a community outside Washington, DC. Following the 4-H Thriving…