Chicano Border Activists Pass the Torch to Dallas Students (Dallas Observer, Texas)
“Everyone needs a hero, someone who looks like them,” said Shellie Ross, executive director of the Wesley-Rankin Community Center, after bringing a bus full of students from her afterschool program some 500 miles to the U.S./Mexican border to meet with Chicano activists. During the trip, a border patrol agent with dogs searched the bus before sending the teens on their way. They met with artist Jane Madrigal and Chicano activist Rosie Castro, mother of both the former mayor of San Antonio and a member of Congress; saw a portion of the wall President Trump wants to extend along the border; and learned about important moments in local civil rights history.
The Case of The Murdered Mascot (Webster-Kirkwood Times, Missouri)
At Hixson Middle School in Webster Grove, Missouri, the “murder” of the school mascot, a stuffed Siberian Husky, set off a mystery that drove students to spend their time in the summer program trying to figure out who had committed the crime. The students started the investigation at the crime scene, a book storage room, and used the English, math and science knowledge that they had gained during the school year to further their investigation. Throughout the program, the children built on that knowledge to try to find the culprit, while gaining investigative, critical thinking and analytical skills. As Hixson Summer Principal Greg Fick told the Webster-Kirkwood Times, “"We don’t want it to be like regular school… [We] build on critical thinking, problem-solving skills.”
Kids Create Original Performance in African Drum, Dance Class at Miami Summer Camp (WLRN, Florida)
At Miami Park Elementary School in West Little River, Florida, students use music in their summer learning. To connect the students, most of whom are African-American, with African culture, Concerned African Women organized a summer camp centered around learning to play traditional music from African countries. Children pick up drumming skills, write their own melodies or just dance their hearts out. The program culminates in a performance for parents and other members of the community to give the students a chance to show off their musical talents. Renee Chavez, one of the group’s drum instructors, summed up the program to WLRN: “We want them to be inspired by it and to find their own core.”
Not Lost in Space (Monterey County Herald, California)
STEM Space Camp is all the rage at San Antonio Elementary School in Lockwood, California. At the week-long summer learning program, students learn about the science, math, technology and engineering concepts that go into space travel and exploration. Then they put what they learned to work building tiny space shuttles, using scientific methods in experiments, and launching rockets they built. They also meet an astronaut. Will Franzell, STEM Economic Administrator at the Monterey County Office of Education, told the Monterey County Herald, “Our students need to be prepared for those STEM careers and the economic opportunities.”