Weekly Media Roundup: July 3, 2024

Inside a Summer Learning Camp With an Uncertain Future After ESSER, Education Week

More than 1,400 students are participating in Grizzly Learning Camp, a free, seven-week summer learning program run by Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan. It uses project-based learning – including poetry slams and studies of invasive plant species – to provide academic support to students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. “We call it camp instead of school,” Ypsilanti School Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told Education Week. “That’s intentional. With this program, we’re closing the learning gap… But with funding going away, we’ll have to balance this with competing needs that we have during the school year. That’s the challenge.”

To Help Migrant Students, Westminster Created a Summer Program for English Language Learners, Chalkbeat Colorado (Colorado)

In response to an influx of immigrant students in the county, the Westminster Public School District is providing English as a second language summer school to help English learners in kindergarten through 11^th grade prepare for the upcoming school year. “We’re really trying to target language that they can use immediately inside the community,” Kate Herter, Westminster summer school principal, told Chalkbeat Colorado. Each week, English language learners focus on topics, including food, U.S. currency, local weather, and sports, in a supportive, encouraging environment.

Boys & Girls Club of Harlem Faces Possible After-School Program Closures, CBS News (New York)

Some 2,200 kindergarten through 12th grade students rely on the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem for a range of social and academic support, including the Advantage Afterschool Program offered at five public schools and the Club itself. But the program’s future is at risk now that the state has announced an end to pandemic-era afterschool funding. “We are determined to keep it open,” Club CEO Sharon Joseph told CBS News. “The dollar that we spend today will reap $3 in terms of our ROI. However, if we wait until later, it's going to cost us $8 in all the social programs that we'll have to put these kids through.” The Club hopes to find 700 donors to pledge $1,000 each to keep the program open.

Tallahassee Nonprofit Encourages Young Girls to ‘Dare to Dream,’ Tallahassee Democrat (Florida)

At the Dare to Dream summer program in Tallahassee, Florida, girls ages seven to 11 are learning fashion design, culinary skills, wellness and self-care techniques, and more while exploring local attractions, including the Jacksonville Zoo and the Butterfly rainforest in Gainesville. “There are some things young girls have never experienced and may not ever, so here at Dare to Dream, we open that door for these girls,” Founder Kimolyn Ferrell told the Tallahassee Democrat. For the past 19 years, Dare to Dream has offered afterschool programs, workshops and summer programs to young girls while encouraging former students to return as counselors and mentors.