Weekly Media Roundup: July 29, 2026

Orlando Science Schools Summer Camp Helps Students Build Robots and Real-World STEM Skills, Spectrum News 13 (Florida)

At the Orlando Science Schools Robotics Summer Camp in Florida, students in third through ninth grade are building robots while developing problem-solving and collaboration skills. The program hopes to inspire students to become engineers, programmers and innovators by making STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) more accessible and engaging. “We walk them through the process and kind of watch them build and guide them along the way," Sanjana Nagarur, a camp counselor and incoming senior at Orlando Science High School, told Spectrum News 13. "And then they end up with a functioning robot that they built just in two weeks.” 

Operation Education: Summer Learning Labs Stop Learning Loss, Data Shows, WSBT 22 (Indiana)

This summer, more than 2,570 students took part in the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northern Indiana Corridor’s summer learning programs across 29 cities, funded by state Summer Learning Lab grants. Data from last summer shows Summer Learning Lab students boosted their reading and math scores by about 25 percent. In addition to reading and math instruction, the free, five-week programs include sports, field trips and STEM exploration. “I got to do makerspace and 3D print. We got to go to the gym or outside,” a fifth grader named Bryce told WSBT 22, adding that her Boys & Girls Clubs mentors helped her learn to “work harder and not rush.”

School District Partners with Arts Council to Take Young Learners on Journey of Discovery, Bakersfield.com (California)

Students in Panama-Buena Vista Union School District’s state-funded ELOP (Expanded Learning Opportunities Program) summer camp chose between multiple enrichment ‘tracks’ this year, including performing arts, sports, and visual arts. The school district partnered with the Arts Council of Kern for the visual arts track, culminating in a two-week exhibition of students’ work at the Council’s gallery in downtown Bakersfield, California. “I think it's a very good experience for the kids to have a place for them to display their art,” Diana Rea, whose daughter attended the program, told Bakersfield.com. “This is something different from what they get in a classroom, something for the community to come and see, and for friends, family and parents.”

River Road Elementary SEAL Program Aims to Prevent Summer Learning Loss, KEZI (Oregon)

In Eugene, Oregon, River Road Elementary School’s SEAL summer program is helping students maintain their academic skills while making learning fun through activities including tie-dying, weaving and painting. The SEAL program uses smaller class sizes and hands-on lessons to prevent summer learning loss while building students’ confidence and connection to school. "Kids get the opportunity to re-engage in school and see how fun learning can be, and along that way, they're also learning their literacy and their math, and we're looking just to stop the slide," SEAL administrator Theresa Hilke told KEZI. District leaders say the program helps students return to school better prepared and hope to expand it to serve even more students in the future.