With Putnam County’s Board of Education (BOE) Summer Inspiration program concluding late last month, Kathy Smith and Beth Bacon of the county’s District Accountability Support team recently summed up the program’s achievements, analyzed its progress, and made plans for Summer Inspiration’s future.
Summer Inspiration runs Monday through Friday for six weeks each June and July. It provides children from kindergarten through eighth grade with opportunities to take part in several fun and educational experiences that involve art, music, science, technology, recreation, and career exploration. It also offers summertime employment opportunities to teachers, bus drivers, nutrition specialists, and even high school students, who are involved in maintenance technology or as teacher assistants or counselors.
Smith and Bacon have run this program for a number of years and say about a third of students in the Putnam County Charter School System – approximately 1,100 total – take part in the Summer Inspiration program each summer, including kids in extended learning camps, experiential learning experiences, and sports.
“Why should our schools sit empty when our kids can make use of them?” Bacon asked. “We try to offer as many things as we can to keep our kids involved. It's a win-win.”
Talking about this year’s improvements, Smith singled out better communication with parents.
“They can reach us 24/7 by going online to putnam.k12.ga.us and emailing us,” she said.
Smith suggested emailing was easier for her and Bacon than calling back because they didn’t spend the entire day in the office.
“The other thing is we now have a social media person, Lindsey Rickman. Having her helped tremendously,” she added.
Another recent improvement involved providing a selection of camps to better suit the needs and interests of kids.
“We've been listening to our kids very closely. Beth and I visit every camp, and if they stay full it tells us that they are of interest,” Smith said.
“We were in the sewing camp this morning,” Bacon added. “There were boys and girls there learning how to sew, using the sewing machines, and creating things. We try to make sure that we are teaching things that are beneficial to kids.”
To meet students’ wants and needs each year, Smith said Summer Inspiration engages in a constant process of becoming more diverse, but also more targeted.
“We keep a running list of things that people have asked us for. And we try to change as our community changes,” she explained. “This year, we had three levels of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) camps. We had a camp for kids who don't speak any English and who needed to know the basics before school starts; we had another ESOL group for kids who needed more work; and the third group was working on English reading skills.”
However, Smith also stressed that “being in extended learning camps doesn’t mean that you failed in the past.”
Extended learning opportunity (ELO) is simply offered to students who need to catch up on things they either missed or struggled with so they can be on the right level when the new school year begins, she said.
“During COVID, a lot of our kids got behind, [but] they didn’t need to do the program of the entire year,” Smith said. “If they’d had another month of school, they would've had it all.”
Regarding high school assistants, Smith said student applicants had to meet certain criteria to get hired, including providing a reference from a teacher and the ability to consistently show up for work.
Also, student employees cannot be hired for Summer Inspiration if they have to go on family vacations over the summer. Other important factors include regular attendance and good behavior in school, even over academic performance.
“It doesn't matter to me that you have straight As. If you are an average student, who comes to school regularly and behaves, you'll still be a good helper for a camp,” Smith said.
High school camp assistants get paid twice: at the end of June and at the end of July.
“We had one young lady who said, ‘This is the first time I've ever gotten paid to do anything.’ She was so excited about her first paycheck,” Smith said. “It teaches them responsibility.”
Planning for next year’s Summer Inspiration program is already underway. Smith explained the timeline for the program starts in August, recruitment of teachers for the camps begins in October, and the first registration is always in March, followed by three or four registrations at the BOE office.
“It's an all-year process,” she said.