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Greetings!

Drum roll please...The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) is pleased to announce four exceptional summer programs as winners of two coveted national awards: the 2019 New York Life Foundation’s Excellence in Summer Learning Award and the inaugural Lands’ End Love Learning Award .

 

The winning programs meet the rigorous criteria for this national recognition that includes helping students cement skills learned during the school year, effective family engagement strategies, and inclusive and innovative programming to serve the diverse needs of children and their families.

 

From Austin to Baltimore, Award honorees spanned the country, providing children with high-quality summer experiences like using national parks as a learning opportunity for building the literacy skills of ESL (English as a Second Language) students, pre-med internships and developing valuable social-emotional learning skills.

 

Read on for profiles of the winners and the insightful observations from our reviewers that led to these programs earning their distinctions as award-winning summer learning programs. You can meet the 2019 Summer Learning Award Winners in person and find out how they did it by joining us for our annual conference, Summer Changes Everything ™, on October 21-23 in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Save your seat by August 31st to save $50 on your 2-day registration .

Best,

Aaron Philip Dworkin, CEO

National Summer Learning Association

The cornerstone of the Andy Roddick Foundation’s (ARF) six week summer learning program which engages children in Title I elementary schools through hands-on activities around STEM, literacy, physical activity, health, arts, and community service.

 

When asked what they liked most about the program, kids mentioned the superhero theme, projects like building a cavern, and field trips. Kids hold team/class jobs that rotate weekly offering opportunities for building leadership and presentation skills. The program encourages respectful conversation and learning and offers deep family engagement activities to keep children learning when they are back home.

Summer programming at ESLAsC, developed in partnership with Columbus State, is anchored by a theme developed throughout the school year with student's needs and interests in mind.The program’s “pop and sparkle” is in the creative ways it engages ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Students build social skills and are introduced to a number of cultural experiences like roller skating for the first time.

The program's theme of National Parks was chosen by the youth. During the three-week program, kids received highly-focused, individualized and group reading instruction and spent time this summer learning about national parks, which culminated with a field trip to a location in or around Central Ohio.

 

The program grew out of a need in the community to support children of ESL parents and the majority of staff were program alum.  

MERIT Health Leadership Academy's (MERIT) razor-sharp focus of supporting high school students interested in careers in health and its rich partnership with John Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Nursing sets the standard in summer STEM programming. This program offers a rigorous, yet engaging summer program that allows scholars to build critical academic skills, gain work experience, and explore careers in health.

MERIT pairs the firsthand shadowing experiences with rigorous summer coursework, involving science instruction, SAT-prep, and college guidance. Rising juniors shadow a variety of health professionals in the field while rising seniors participate in a research internship, conducting independent research based on their interests. These paid internships provide broad career exposure, allowing scholars to observe medical procedures and interact with providers and patients in a variety of clinical settings.

With its continued nurturing of a diverse group of students, the program stays true to its mission of reducing health disparities by changing the face of health care and making the profession more inclusive and representative. 

The Summer Connections curriculum for middle schoolers combines hands-on science (such as studying native species and climate change) with the best of Outward Bound’s approach to teamwork and resilience (e.g., when the students work together to climb a 50-foot alpine tower).

The program's theory of action directly addresses the goals of Boston's Summer Learning Academies. Combining STEM-focused academics with Outward Bound's renowned social-emotional learning (SEL) in a camp-like setting during the summer, this model has demonstrated success in improving Science, Math, English language arts and social-emotional development for students.

The island is just one mile from downtown Boston by ferry, yet a world away for city-dwelling students looking to expand their horizons. In order to close opportunity and achievement gaps, lessons from the summer programming inform the island’s year-round partnership with the Boston Public Schools.

Join us in Atlanta, Georgia for our annual conference, Summer Changes Everything™, on October 21-23. Meet the winners of the 2019 Summer Learning Awards, hear from inspiring speakers like Dr. Steve Perry, and share resources, best practices, and solutions for summer learning and after school programs. Register by August 31 for the summer rate.