A $15,000 grant from the Staples Foundation for
Learning will enable the
Center for Summer
Learning at Johns Hopkins to coordinate the first
national Summer Learning Day in July 2004. The partnership
was announced on Nov. 19 at Brehms Lane Elementary School
in Baltimore.
The event is designed to focus attention on the issue
of summer learning loss and to build support for a broad
range of programs that will send students back to school
after summer break ready to learn, said Ron Fairchild,
executive director of the Center for Summer Learning.
"The overarching goal of Summer Learning Day is to
mobilize public support to ensure that no child takes a
vacation from learning during the summer months," Fairchild
said. "The event is also designed to further position the
Center for Summer Learning as a national resource for best
practices, policy and research on summer learning."
Joy Errico from Staples Foundation for Learning, said,
"Learning loss during the summer is a prevalent issue in
education today. The Center for Summer Learning is a
terrific program with proven results in minimizing the
negative effects of summers off. Children who participate
in these programs have a tremendous head start in the
school year."
The Center for Summer Learning will encourage
community-based organizations in at least 100 cities and
towns across the country to host local Summer Learning Days
in their communities. Fairchild envisions that the events
will showcase exemplary programs in an effort to increase
public support and awareness of how summer learning
opportunities can benefit children, families and
communities. The Staples Foundation grant will pay for the
development and distribution of Summer Learning Day
materials, as well as an online event planning toolkit for
participants.
The Center for Summer Learning develops, evaluates and
disseminates model programs, stimulates research and builds
public support for summer learning. Since 1992, the
center's Teach Baltimore Summer Academy program has
provided educational summer programs to more than 2,000
students in Baltimore City public schools. Teach Baltimore
has recruited and trained 287 students from 45 colleges and
universities across the United States to serve as
instructors, and in the past three years, 21 alumni of the
program have accepted full-time teaching positions in
Baltimore City.
Launched in August 2002, Staples Foundation for
Learning is a private foundation created by Staples to
provide funding to charitable programs that support or
provide job training or educational opportunities to all
people, with a special emphasis on disadvantaged youth.
To date, the foundation has awarded almost $2 million
in grants to nonprofit organizations and is a national
sponsor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. This is the
second grant from the Staples Foundation for Learning to
the Center for Summer Learning. In April, the foundation
invested $11,550 in the center's Teach Baltimore
program.
For more information about the foundation or how to
apply for a grant, go to
www.staplesfoundation.org. For information about the
Center for Summer Learning, go to
www.summerlearning.org.