Tennessee Afterschool Network Joins Thousands of Education Champions across the Country in Celebration of National Summer Learning Week (July 12-16)
Summer is not cancelled this year, and summer learning programing will be more important than ever in 2021. Across the country, summer programs are adapting and innovating to ensure children and their families can access quality summer learning opportunities and critical supports and services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tennessee Afterschool Network joins the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) in celebrating National Summer Learning Week, a celebration dedicated to elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe and healthy every summer; ensuring young people return to school ready to succeed. That’s why during July 12-16, each day of Summer Learning Week is devoted to a different critical summer issue, from the enriching possibilities of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to arts programming to summertime programs that strengthen career development skills for young people. TAN also joins communities everywhere in calling out the importance of high-quality summer experiences that offer children and youth, of all backgrounds, the opportunity to explore their interests and learn in new and different ways that are limited in the school year.
“We know that summer learning loss is real, but we should not place so much of our focus narrowly on the summer academic slide that we ignore the many other “lost opportunity” summer issues that impact children’s physical, mental and emotional well-being,” said Aaron Philip Dworkin, NSLA CEO.
In the first-ever cross-sector study on summertime experiences, a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examined evidence on the outcomes of summertime experiences for children and youth in four areas of well-being: (1) academic learning, (2) social and emotional development, (3) physical and mental health, and (4) safety.
“Summer programs provide a unique space in education to pilot, partner, and close our nation’s educational and opportunity gaps,” said Dworkin. “By coming together as a national community, dedicated to the future success of our youth, we can ensure all kids in America, regardless of zip code and socioeconomic status, receive the opportunity to keep learning and growing all summer and all year long.”
NSLA’s website supports promotion of National Summer Learning Week with an events tracker, and robust resources for families, summer programs providers, and municipal leaders – all to help keep kids healthy and engaged during the summer break.
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About National Summer Learning Association
The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) is the only national nonprofit exclusively focused on closing the achievement gap by increasing access to high-quality summer learning opportunities. NSLA recognizes and disseminates what works in summer learning, develops and delivers capacity-building offerings and convenes and empowers key actors to embrace summer learning as a solution for equity and excellence in education. For more information, visit www.summerlearning.org.