BOSTnet Summer Series

The training was convened in the Boston Public Library. Participants come from all over the state of Massachusetts with a heavy representation of the city of Boston. Program range in type, age, and their focus, but all gathered to learn how to make their summer program engaging for children and youth. What is interesting is that the majority of participants have already run or been part of a summer program. So, what is new about summer?

Summer time programs are not just extensions of the school year program. They are often opportunities to do activities or create the type of learning environment that the school year time slot just does not afford. They may also be additionally challenging because staff are different and children or youth may also be there inconsistently, be new to the program or staff, and have a set idea of what they will or won't do in the summer. One pressure is on programs to perform more and have more clear goals and objectives - especially with the talk of "summer learning loss" and the need to provide children - primarily inner city or minority - with additional structured academic time. Some form of academic assistance may indeed be needed over the summer, however, summer school has been around for almost as long as there has been the public institution of school. What is difficult now is that programs thrive being fun and engaging places and do not have the desire or often capacity to transform their program from what it is today into a program that can be better managed and analysed centrally.

It seems that summer is itself almost like a project.

There is a beginning, middle, and end. The run is 8 - 10 weeks. There are learning goals. Those things that the director of the program really wants children or youth to experience or learn (from academics to social emotional skills). Then there is the final product. This can both be whatever is in the show at the end of the school year, but also the goals set by the director (perhaps with program staff) to answer the question, "what do we want children or youth to have done by summer's end?"

Now, we will go on to list all the many things we could do with children or youth over the summer. From that, we will look at creating a "doable" list that can fit on the schedule and which can be realistically done.

Summertime is a time for young people to break out of school, and take out their knowledge to solve problems or just experience the bumps, bites, and bruises of being a kid.