By: Joel Gross
Photos by Tyler Schmitt / The Mill Photography Studio
At BookSpring we know one of the most critical areas in students’ early educational journey is stemming the tide of summer reading loss.
More broadly, the summer also presents an added challenge to many parents as they strive to fill this out-of-school time with meaningful experiences – all while continuing to balance the demands of everyday life.
The Andy Roddick Foundation is keenly aware of this challenge, and in response, has developed a free summer learning program for elementary students. Over the course of six weeks, students engage in thematic, inquiry-based learning to develop skills that promote achievement in and out of school.
The shared focus on addressing skill loss over the summer, aka “the summer slide,” set the stage for a perfect partnership between BookSpring and the Andy Roddick Foundation. Over the course of the summer, both teams joined forces to host several book distributions and provide nearly 150 books to the students enrolled.
I had the opportunity to attend the final distribution in July. In a testament to the Andy Roddick Foundation’s summer team, the energy and student enthusiasm for the program was palpable right when I entered the building. On my walk to the cafeteria, I encountered various groups of students, all wholly engrossed in the educational activity of the moment.
This type of creative and engaging atmosphere is an ideal segue into a book distribution. The students’ minds were primed to learn and a book is a perfect vehicle to fuel that desire. The students explored the books, asked questions about the content, and left the book table with a smile on their face and a book under their arm.
Our hope is that these books will inspire that same smile and learning desire when the student sees it at home on their own bookshelf.
The Andy Roddick Foundation is providing a meaningful summer outlet for children and with the addition of an engaging book for all the students to read and own, we believe the students are well positioned to succeed in the summer and beyond.
Click here to learn more about BookSpringEd programs.
