How Our Summer Program Uses Deeper Learning to Reach Struggling Students
September 6, 2019
By: Donna M. Neary
Source: EdSurge
Cristian watched with excitement across the picnic table as Chef Bruce formed blue balls of cornmeal and pressed them between two stainless steel paddles. “I know how to do that!” he exclaimed with excitement. “He’s making tortillas. My Mom does that.” Cristian, a fourth grader originally from Mexico, speaks Spanish at home but struggles with his lessons at school.
Cristian and his classmates were spending a hot July day at an urban farm to work on improving their literacy and numeracy skills while learning about the Mayan culture. Cristian was one of 850 third through sixth graders taking part in an innovative summer program designed for learners like him called the Backpack League, hosted by my district, Jefferson County Public Schools, or JCPS for short, in Louisville, Ky.
Modeled after a successful summer learning program in Boston, the Backpack League kicked-off its inaugural year as a pop-up school created to exist for one month. The experience sent students on field trips and classrooms hosted visitors from around the city including the Louisville City FC soccer team and members of a guinea pig rescue organization.