4J sponsors math-focused summer camp by local business
Fee-based camp for students entering grades 6–9 will be held July 8–August 1
Students in Eugene School District 4J get an excellent education while school is in session. But how can they keep their learning progressing over the summer? 4J this year is sponsoring a summer program to help stop students’ “summer slide.”
During the summer months out of school, studies show, most U.S. students forget between one and two months’ worth of math skills they learned during the school year—and the effects are cumulative, adding up year after year. The good news: Research shows that high-quality summer programs with individualized instruction, parental involvement, and small classes can help boost student achievement and stop the summer slide.
To provide one solution to the summer slide, the Eugene School District has invited a local business, Summer Springboard, to offer its academic summer camp this year in partnership with the district. Summer Springboard will hire 4J math teachers to teach in the program and will provide professional development for those teachers. The program also will hire area high school students as camp counselors.
Summer Springboard is tailored for students entering grades 6–9 who want to speed up, firm up or catch up their math skills, while also enjoying outdoor activities, gaining financial literacy and learning computer programming.
Each day students will have one hour of math instruction, learning how to use logic and math to solve real-world problems; a half-hour of skill building using a computer-based math program; and an hour of instruction in financial literacy or computer programming. In addition, there will be daily outdoor games and activities designed to help increase student fitness, which also have been found to slide over the summer months.
Math classes will be taught by highly qualified 4J math teachers. Computer programming classes will be taught by Summer Springboard partner Thinkersmith, a Eugene-based organization and one of only 10 organizations in North America to receive the prestigious 2013 Google Rise Award.
The four-week summer program will begin July 8 and end August 1. It is open to 4J and non-4J students. Summer Springboard’s fee is $145 per week; a limited number of scholarships are available by request. Applications are being accepted now. For more information, please see www.summerspringboard.org.
WHAT: “Summer Springboard” Academic Summer Camp
WHEN: July 8–August 1, Mondays–Thursdays 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. including lunch
WHERE: Madison Middle School, 875 Wilkes Dr., Eugene
WHO: Students entering grades 6–9
COST: Fee-based, $145 per week; limited number of scholarships available
INFO & REGISTRATION: www.summerspringboard.org
