Tennis Program Helps Students to AIM High (Gainesville Sun, Florida)

“Katie Munroe credits her involvement with the Aces in Motion education program with motivating her to realize her dreams of going to college,” according to the Gainesville Sun.  The AIM afterschool program teaches students basic life skills and students receive homework help alongside tennis lessons and activities with members of the University of Florida tennis team. Munroe began participating in the afterschool program while she was in seventh grade. “I can honestly say AIM has helped me grow into the person I am today because it taught me to believe in myself, to have patience and to work hard to achieve success,” 18-year-old Katie Munroe told the Gainesville Sun.

The City’s Youth Are in Crisis (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin)

Boys & Girls Clubs of America president and CEO Jim Clark and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee president and CEO Vincent Lyles write about the positive impact of afterschool programs in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “…with the right opportunities and the right people in their corners, youths make positive choices and go on to lead successful, productive lives as adults…. The persistent problems of intergenerational poverty and crime won’t be solved until we join together and commit to providing more opportunities for quality out-of-school programs that help America’s inner city and rural youths achieve three crucial goals: academic success, good character and citizenship and healthy lifestyles.”

Incoming No. Providence High Freshmen Graduate from Summer Boatbuilding Program (North Providence Breeze, Rhode Island)

Nearly 50 Providence-area students spent the last several weeks learning to design, build, and repair boats as part of the Youth Summer Boatbuilding Program. The program’s hands-on approach taught students science, engineering, and math fundamentals in a fun, challenging way while preparing them for possible future careers. “The boats are merely a metaphor; if they can build a boat and put their minds to something and see what they can accomplish, they start believing in themselves,” Henry Marciano of City Sail told the North Providence Breeze. “That’s the whole purpose of this program.”

Cabell County Students Share Views on Afterschool Programs with Congress (Huntington Herald-Dispatch, West Virginia)

This week the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported that two Cabell County students shared their views on the value of afterschool programming with their elected representatives in Washington as part of the Afterschool Alliance’s Afterschool for All Challenge in June. Brothers Brennan and Aiden Shope met with U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, as well as U.S. Reps. Evan Jenkins and Alex Mooney, to stress the positive impact their afterschool programs have had on their lives and to urge the members of Congress to support funding for out-of-school-time programs. 

With Help of a BMX Pro, at-Risk Youth Pedal Their Way to a Better Future (Fresno Bee, California)

A biking afterschool program at Sequoia Middle School is steering students away from dangerous decisions and toward a fun, positive learning environment. BMX Jam, started by former BMX racing professional Tony Hoffman, helps students who are struggling at school and at home by giving them a place to develop friendships, improve their grades and build self-esteem. “In the program, you talk to each other, you help each other and you become kind of like a family,” participant Danny Orozco told the Fresno Bee.

Learning to Inhale: At This Camp, Breathing Is Fundamental (WAMU, District of Columbia)

Youths at a unique summer camp in Patuxent, Maryland are not just taking hikes and sleeping in cabins – they’re learning how to control their asthma. According to camp co-director Bernadette Campbell, the week-long program is meant to help students learn coping techniques that could make all the difference in case of a sudden asthma attack. “They know how to save their lives, they have a sense of empowerment and they know they can do it,” Campbell told WAMU.

Sponsors Visit STEM Programs Aimed at Fighting Summer Learning Loss (New Britain Herald, Connecticut)

Representatives from several companies and organizations that sponsor summer learning programs in New Britain got a chance to see how their money was being used through two site visits and information sessions last week. The funders visited the district’s two Summer Enrichment Experience (SEE) locations to witness how students in elementary and middle school benefit from the STEM-based program that fights summer learning loss. “We have seen the success with SEE,” New Britain High School superintendent Nancy Sarra told the New Britain Herald. “…We know that if we keep them in the summer… we can change their trajectory for learning and staying engaged in school and graduating on time.”

Swimming Skills Aren’t Just for Dreamers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania)

Pittsburgh students from all socioeconomic backgrounds are building healthy habits through Summer Dreamers, a swimming-focused summer learning program. “We’re teaching the kids a skill, a lifetime skill,” Obama Academy swim coach Mark Rauterkus told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And we’re also spending a lot of time in fitness, so they’re getting stronger more endurance. They’re learning about exercising, kinetic movement, and their teamwork and sportsmanship.” The program combines swimming and water polo lessons and other traditional camp activities with academic classes, helping to mitigate summer learning loss, build students’ self-confidence and keep them fit.

If You Think This Camp’s Unusual, You’re Dead Right (Riverdale Press, New York)

A cemetery may not seem like an obvious location to host a summer camp, but for some 20 students from the Bronx, it has been the perfect place to spend time outside while learning about the history of their community. The summer program hosted by the Woodlawn Cemetery teaches students about the art and architecture in the graveyard, and introduces them to some of the people buried there, including famous figures like Miles Davis and salsa singer Celia Cruz. “If you don’t get young people to be stewards of a historic site, who’s going to care for it?” Woodlawn director of historical services Susan Olsen told the Riverdale Press.

Hundreds of Maryland Students Get to Know Careers That Could Follow High School (Washington Post)

More than 400 Montgomery County teenagers spent the past three weeks shadowing employees at health care centers, police departments, research labs, construction companies and more through a new program that gives students a glimpse into possible future careers. At Summer RISE (Real Interesting Summer Experience), students worked an average of 20 hours a week and earned a $300 stipend while learning about what paths they could take after high school or college. “Not only is this great for the kids to give them something to do, but also to show them that opportunities exist and they don’t have to live somewhere else to get an interesting job,” program director Will Jawando told the Washington Post.

STEMMING the Tide, Broadening Possibilities (Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi)

A Jackson summer camp is working to close the gender and racial gaps in STEM fields by empowering dozens of young black girls to explore engineering and other technical fields. The Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK Jackson) is an all-female STEM camp for third- through fifth-graders that engages students in hands-on, team-based engineering activities under the guidance of mentors. The program builds girls’ confidence and increases their comprehension of basic engineering and math concepts that will help them later in life. “A lot of boys become engineers but SEEK proves that girls can accomplish just as much,” participant Karis McGowan told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

From Skyhook to STEM: Kareem Abdul Jabbar Brings the Science (NPR)

NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul Jabbar is trying to narrow the opportunity gap for Los Angeles youths through his Skyhook Foundation and Camp Skyhook. The nonprofit offers public school students access to a free STEM-focused summer camp in the Angeles National Forest, where they’re able to interact with nature up close by taking water temperatures, studying soil and forest samples and learning about local wildlife. “We try to give them an idea that they are all worthy of going on and doing great things in chemistry and biology and physics and math and all those things…. They’re curious about it, so we try to get them to keep making inquiries and sniffing up that tree,” Abdul Jabbar told NPR. 

After-School Unicycle Program Gains Traction across Texas Schools (Daily Texan, Texas)

Austin schoolteacher Jimmy Agnew is teaching students self-confidence and team-building skills through a unique activity – unicycling. Agnew’s nonprofit, One Wheel Many Children, grew out the Uni-Saders afterschool program he started back in 2009, and he now teaches students across Central Texas how to unicycle, building up other skills along the way. “Learning to unicycle is about a balance of cognitive thinking and physical awareness, and we teach kids to learn together as a team,” Agnew told the Daily Texan. “It’s the same thing we want to teach kids in the classroom, to problem-solve and challenge themselves.”

Young Activists March for Hunger (Boston Globe, Massachusetts)

About 200 children marched by the Massachusetts State House last week raising awareness of food insecurity among children and urging support for federal food programs. The students are part of the Freedom Schools summer programs in Boston and Somerville, which are inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and aim to close achievement gaps and reduce summer learning loss while focusing on global and domestic social issues. Event organizers say protests like last week’s march teach children how to lead and take action to effect change. “It’s been fun because a lot of us want to help people who don’t get a meal everyday,” 10-year-old Emilly Gomes told the Boston Globe.

What’s Working: Learning Is Just as Important in the Summer (Huffington Post)

Allan Golston, president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation U.S. Program, wrote in the Huffington Post praising summer learning: “Every summer, students are at risk of losing two to three months in reading and about two months of math skills. For low-income youth, this risk often becomes the reality…. Summer is first and foremost about allowing kids to explore, have fun, and explore their passions. But as SOWA [School’s Out Washington] and other organizations show us, there’s no reason we can’t combine play and learning. Students are better for it in the end.”

Summer Program Helps Students Explore Heritage and History (Santa Fe New Mexican, New Mexico)

More than 100 elementary and middle school students are spending their summer learning about New Mexico’s history and culture through project-based, hands-on learning experiences. Hands on Heritage takes students on field trips and encourages them to read and participate in STEM projects to explore the architecture, agriculture, food, and prehistoric life of the region. “I believe social studies gets put on the back burner a lot these days, because it’s not tested,” Ed Gorman, El Camino Real history teacher and a leader of the program, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. “Something like this helps kids get out and learn about New Mexico’s culture and history, to learn about this wonderful melting pot that New Mexico is.” 

Don’t Miss Out on Many Portland Learning Programs That Combat ‘Summer Slide’ (Press Herald, Maine)

“Summer is an opportunity for students to enjoy long, lazy days of fun, relaxation and new experiences. But if learning isn’t a part of those experiences, students are at risk of the ‘summer slide.’ Research shows that summers without quality learning opportunities put youth at risk of falling behind in core academic subjects such as math and reading,” wrote Portland Public Schools Superintendent Xavier Botana in the Press Herald in support of Summer Learning Day last week. He continued, “I am proud of the Portland Public Schools’ many partners, who are committed to working with us to ensure our students continue learning and thriving during the summer break.”

Letter: Worthy Reading Program on Chopping Block (Union-Bulletin, Washington)

A letter-to-the-editor in the Union-Bulletin from Walla Walla’s Sue Parish calls for continued funding for 21^st Century Community Learning Programs “to give all our students a strong future.” She wrote: “This past week, the country celebrated National Summer Learning Day with events at learning programs for kids throughout the country. Luckily for our kids in Walla Walla, there are currently over 400 kids involved in amazing summer learning opportunities, at a multitude of different sites around town. Not only do these activities keep kids safe and engaged when school is out, but they keep students math and reading skills sharp, working to avoid the loss of skills that the student worked so hard to gain throughout the school year…. Sadly, the current administration’s budget proposes to eliminate all funding for this worthy program. Please stand up for all kids and urge our senators and representatives in Congress to reject this proposal, and instead protect funding for this program.”

Pint-Sized Ornithologists Work Towards Closing Achievement Gap In Pinellas County (WUSF, Florida)

Nearly 8,000 Pinellas County students are participating in Summer Bridge, a six-week summer learning program that is teaching students from Maximo Elementary School all about birds, including hands-on learning opportunities with field trips to Seaside Seabird Sanctuary. Shana Rafalski, Executive Director of Elementary Education for Pinellas County Schools, told WUSF that the district believes that the Summer Bridge program is worthwhile and valuable. She said, “We’ve got data that does support that children who attend do fare better as they enter into the new school year.”

Marilyn Mosby Invests in Youth, Community Engagement Amid Baltimore Violence (Baltimore Sun, Maryland)

Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby kicked off her Junior State's Attorney program recently, with a pinning at its opening ceremony. The six-week summer program takes young people on tours of various aspects of the criminal justice system, including meetings with Baltimore’s mayor and judges and a law school-style mock trial competition at the program’s end, the Baltimore Sun reports. This year, the program’s third, more students were accepted and the city’s YouthWorks program are paying teens to participate.

A Life-Changing Summer for Every Boston Kid (Boston Globe, Massachusetts)

The Boston Globe editorial board praised Boston’s investments in citywide summer learning programs last week: “The program is a valuable investment in Boston kids that deserves a broader base of support so that more students can participate…. The success has been remarkable: In 2015, the city had capacity for only 6,500 students; this summer, the city has a total of over 12,000 kids enrolled in more than 100 fully or partially subsidized summer programs…. The Boston summer learning model, which is paid for with a combination of public and private funds, is worthy of replication…. Rewarding summer experiences shouldn’t be reserved for wealthy families alone.”

Girls of Summer Kicks Off at CCGA (Brunswick News, Georgia)

A four-week summer enrichment program for rising middle school girls kicked off earlier this month at the College of Coastal Georgia. The Girls of Summer camp aims to help young women build their confidence, have good manners and maintain positive self-esteem, assistant director Marcyline Bailey told the Brunswick News. The program will also give students a head start on what they’ll be learning during the school year, offering supplemental instruction in math, language arts and reading.

A Summer Camp for Refugee Children Sprouts in St. Louis, Freeing Parents to Take English Classes (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri)

When the International Institute of St. Louis, a refugee resettlement and assistance agency, noticed a consistent drop-off in summer enrollments for adult English classes, the agency found a creative solution: It organized a summer camp for children so that parents could be free to attend their English lessons. The free camp’s curriculum mirrors what parents are learning in their English classes so that families can review the material together at home. “This is a chance for family to be in a safe learning environment together where the parents don’t have to worry about their children and can focus on their English,” director of education Anita Barker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

16 Schools Reopen for Summer as Recreation Centers (Detroit News, Michigan)

This week, 16 Detroit public schools opened as “Summer Fun Centers,” giving students free access to places where they can swim, play basketball, work on arts and crafts projects and more under adult supervision throughout the summer. The addition of the Summer Fun Centers supplements the 11 full-time recreation centers already in place throughout the city. “Too many times, kids, if you don’t give them something positive to do, they’ll find something negative to do,” Detroit Parks and Recreation Department interim director Keith Flournoy told the Detroit News. “This is an opportunity to provide kids with something positive.” 

Young Inventors: Students Learn STEM Skills in Summer School Class (Logansport Pharos-Tribune, Indiana)

Sixty-five students from Lewis Cass and other area high schools are dismantling VCRs, building catapults and learning about how to grow vegetation on other planets as part of a STEM-focused summer program. The classes give kids a chance to create inventions using household items and increase their independence and creativity. “STEM is good for every kid,” program organizer Cindy LeDuc told the Pharos-Tribune.

Annual Summer Meals Program Kicks off in Philly (CBS Philly, Pennsylvania)

South Philadelphia’s Aquinas Center kicked off its annual Summer Meals program last week. “The city of Philadelphia is looking to provide activities and encourage active healthy lifestyles and educational opportunities as part of the fun, safe, Philly summer and out of school time initiatives,” Mayor Jim Kenney said. More than 1,000 free food centers throughout the city will offer summer meals to all kids under the age of 18, regardless of household income or other factors, according to CBS Philly.

Circuit Boards, Web Development and Summer Fun (Castle Rock News-Press, Colorado)

The University of Colorado South Denver has partnered with Coding with Kids to bring coding and STEM instruction to Denver students between the ages of 5 and 16 this summer. Kids learn everything from the basic concepts of coding to game development, robotics and web development. “Not only are these skills transferable in other aspects of their lives, but they also give these kids something to be passionate about,” Coding with Kids regional director Hardy Bora told the Castle Rock News-Press. “We want to share our passion for coding and lifelong learning with these kids. We want to teach them how to learn, not what to learn.”

New Albany Students Blend Classroom and Kitchen (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Mississippi)

A unique program at New Albany Middle School is blending math and cooking for about 30 students this summer. Kids in Integrating Math Through Cooking, part of the 21^st Century Community Learning Center program, learned how fractions and proportions can be applied outside the classroom by analyzing recipes and multiplying portions four mornings a week this June. They also learned basic kitchen skills. “It’s amazing to see how much the children learned that they’ll use for the rest of their lives,” program director Maia Miller told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. “I can see we have some budding chefs in the making.”
 

Schools Let Students Take Laptops Home to Stop the 'Summer Slide' (NPR)

Topeka Public Schools has joined many other school districts in the country by allowing children to take home school-issued computers over summer break, with the hope that access to the devices will reduce disparities between higher- and lower-income students. Some see the laptops as a way to offer learning opportunities to students who may not have the resources to go to summer camps or family vacations like some of their peers. “It has opened up a huge educational resource to our kids who may not have access otherwise,” principal Kelli Hoffman told NPR.

Peacebuilders Camp Focuses on Human Rights, Relationships (Youth Today)

Each summer, kids ages 11 to 14 spend a week on a farm in Georgia learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, participating in lively discussions about the morality of hunting, serving in the military and more. Peacebuilders camp will host three week-long sessions this summer, with each day of the session focused on a different article from the Universal Declaration. “What we go for is openness and discussion and finding how to be in a relationship even when we disagree,” co-founder and curriculum director Marilyn McGinnis told Youth Today.

Local Girl Scout Shares Her Love of Math via Summer Learning Program (Newark Advocate, Ohio)

Girl Scout and math aficionado Ava Wandersleben decided to earn her Girl Scouts’ Silver Award – an honor that requires 50 hours of community service work – by creating a summer math program for elementary schoolers. Each Wednesday, she leads youths in kindergarten through fifth grade in math-themed games meant to improve their math skills and learn to enjoy a subject many of them find uninteresting. “Her idea for giving back was getting kids to like math,” Ava’s mother, Christina, told the Newark Advocate. “That way they could do well on their math tests in the fall.”

A Week of Touring for Local Students to Help Their Careers (Daily Nonpareil, Iowa)

A group of 22 high school students got a firsthand look at potential future careers as part of a summer program sponsored by a 21^st Century Community Learning Centers grant. Students attended different career seminars at the University of Nebraska at Omaha each day of the program, then toured a representative workplace in the afternoon, according to the Daily Nonpareil. “The purpose is to showcase different opportunities students can have,” 21^st Century Community Learning Center site facilitator Julia Hartnett said. “It’s to [pique] interest in a field that maybe they never considered.”