National Summer Learning Day-Indy Style

Written by: Monette Viduya
I am so excited to go to a free Indianapolis Indians game tonight! FREE?! Can you get excited?! Yes!  Today is *drumroll please* National Summer Learning Day! And one of the awesome things that MCCOY does is sponsoring this wonderful day at Victory Field with the help of the Summer Youth Program Fund.

Though it has been the ninth annual celebration nationally, this is Indianapolis’ second time it has held National Summer Learning Day.  Many different public agencies, non-profit organizations, schools, faith-based organizations, and camps around Indianapolis will be coming together tonight (with free tickets and t-shirts provided) to combat the harmful effects of learning loss. As we are all at Victory Field watching the Indians, we will be recognizing and celebrating the great work that summer programs do in both preventing summer learning loss and promoting learning gains during the months when school is not in session.

From working on this event, I have learned that there is countless research that shows that children form lower income families can lose up to 3 months of academic progress in math and reading skills in the summer time if they are not active in positive and stimulating summer programs. Because of this, I want to encourage every child to take the initiative to engage in summer learning activities and programs. For a quick look at what Indianapolis has to offer, click here to look at MCCOY's Youth Activity Directory, which is a comprehensive list of youth programs.

In Indianapolis, there are over 175 programs funded by the Summer Youth Program Fund (SYPF), which is a partnership of 10 public and private funders. Through the fund, $2.3 million in grants have funded these summer programs that serve over 40,000 youth. While the SYPF encourages and financially supports high quality programs, I am absolutely amazed about the opportunities summer programs create for children as well as the safe environments they are able to provide.  

Over the past week, I’ve been sorting shirts and tickets to all of the organizations participating in this event. While it was a pretty tedious job, I am very excited to see everyone on the Victory Field lawn with a super summery, bright green shirt. Can you just imagine how awesome that sight will be? There is a certain joy that is found in people coming together as a community and that is mostly why I am excited for tonight and having the opportunity to be involved in such a great occasion.

After tonight, I’ll be sure to write again and let everyone know about National Summer Learning Day’s success! :)