Boston Summer Programs Host More Than 12,000 Youth

Press release from Melwood Global:

July 27, 2020

More than 12,000 Boston youth are participating in 166 programs this summer, the largest summer program network yet for Boston’s programs despite setbacks associated with COVID-19.

Students around the city are safely taking part in a range of programs every weekday, including sports, performing arts, sailing, history and racial awareness, and more.

“The programs in our network have demonstrated remarkable creativity and persistence, rising to the challenge of the pandemic to serve the young people of Boston,” said Chris Smith, executive director of Boston After School & Beyond. “Despite numerous obstacles, program leaders have found ways to engage kids in learning and keep them connected to one another.”

In their 11th year of organizing citywide summer learning, Boston Beyond, the Boston Public Schools, and a variety of nonprofits created new ways to address the ever-persistent summer slide, a phenomenon in which low-income children fall behind their wealthier peers. As COVID-19’s impact on the school learning is clear, research predicts the summer slide to be even more pronounced this year due to COVID-19 school closures.

Sixty-one programs, serving 5,576 students, operating in partnership with the Boston Public Schools as part of its 5th Quarter of Learning are providing enrichment to complement academic learning. For example, Boston Scores, a soccer-based enrichment program, is supplementing academic learning on the Defined Learning project-based learning platform with a variety of at-home clubs, from film and video editing and poetry to yoga and dance.

In addition to remote programs, Boston Beyond is supporting 34 programs that are operating safe, in-person activities for youth in parks and neighborhoods around Boston. These include 14 community-based programs that are new to Boston Beyond’s network, including: ACT Up with 5-0, Boston Lions Track Club, Cape Verdean UNIDO, the Chica Project, Dorchester Youth Collaborative, Girls Reflecting Our World, Greatest Minds, the HBCU Boston Network, Hoop Hop, Level Ground Mixed Martial Arts, LIPGLOSS!, Team New England, The PIM Project, and the Transformative Culture Project.

In Franklin Park, Level Ground MMA couples learning modules in exercise science and food justice with non-contact Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing for nearly 100 teens. At Almont Park in Mattapan, the Chica Project will engage 30 youth in leadership development, wellness, and storytelling activities. Other outdoor programs at parks, preservation, and even on the Boston Harbor will include activities such as sailing, acting, history and racial justice awareness, and sports such as track and basketball drills.

Boston Beyond secured $500,000 to support the capacity of these programs to operate safely in person. The foundations supporting Boston Beyond’s efforts include the Charles Hayden Foundation, the Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation.

A national study by RAND, sponsored by The Wallace Foundation, showed that Boston’s pioneered approach of combining academics and enrichment gets results. The 2016 RAND report Learning from Summer showed that high attending students outperformed their peers in English language arts, math, and social and emotional skill development. A new report from the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that the public and private sectors invest in summer learning and employment. A testament to the efficacy of this approach, Boston Beyond and the Boston Private Industry Council’s “Summer for All: A Third Semester of Work and Learning” proposal was a Top 100 Solution in the MacArthur Foundation’s $100 million grant competition.

This press release was produced by Melwood Global. The views expressed here are the author's own.