BEF Awards $146,000 to Support Summer Learning
BEF NEWS
BEF Awards $146,000 to Support Summer Learning
Monday, August 1st, 2022
The Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) awarded more than $146,000 to summer enrichment programs that are meeting the academic and social emotional needs of thousands of Beaverton students this summer.
“Educators and parents recognize that students need extra help this summer, and BEF is proud to make possible many unique and memorable learning opportunities, ones that go above and beyond everyday activities to make learning more hands-on and interactive,” says Kristine Baggett, BEF’s executive director. “Thanks to our donors and community partners, BEF is enhancing our students’ summer experiences and setting them up for more success — academically and socially — when school returns in September and beyond.”
Camp Achieve was first piloted by BEF ten years ago, and it has since become a central component of Beaverton School District’s summer programming to help prevent the summer slide for students at every Beaverton elementary school. But there are hundreds of students who would benefit from Camp Achieve yet can’t participate for some reason.
This year, BEF is funding a new approach to reach those students. The Summer Boost program is helping incoming first through fifth graders close academic gaps caused by the pandemic and fight the summer slide. With a $35,000 BEF award, the schools provided take-home materials and experiences for about 375 academically impacted students at five elementary schools. Students went home for the summer with books they selected with the help of a reading specialist, along with math games and incentives for summer learning.
“Summer Boost has the potential to make a huge impact,” says Christy Batsell, principal at Terra Linda Elementary School, one of the Summer Boost school sites. “Students chose the books in their Summer Boost bags so they would be inspired to read this summer, and the math games are designed for their grade level and to help maintain their math fact fluency. We are hoping the books and math games keep students engaged in learning throughout the summer!”
One Terra Linda parent shared how grateful they are that the Summer Boost bags are helping their daughter. “Already I’ve seen her read so much more this summer than past summers. She’s reading for longer stretches of time and is more interested in reading than she ever has been before,” the parent describes.
BEF’s summer funding reaches students in all grade levels across Beaverton. Highlights include:
- Camp Achieve, $52,725: 3,400 Camp Achieve students across 34 schools received high-interest books to add to their growing home libraries and help them grow their love for reading. Each school also received funding to support a broad range of summer learning opportunities for their students — from books and literacy support, to math activities, social emotional learning and more.
- Middle School Summer Band Camp, $23,000: At this two-week camp, students will play music, make new friends and become better musicians through small group lessons led by professional musicians.
- UpGrade+, $20,000: Middle school students from Five Oaks are spending four weeks at Westview High School learning about manufacturing career opportunities. This is just one component of the year-round UpGrade+ preparatory program that connects Beaverton middle school students to the trades and bridges the opportunity gap for students who may want to explore other high-wage, high-demand careers.
- Soul of Science, $10,000: High school students at Aloha High School are creating a new, more interactive physics curriculum that will be used at several schools. Additional Kids Count Grants made this spring support summer programming so students and their families can participate in engaging and unique learning opportunities.
BEF’s funding for summer enrichment was made possible in part by grants from Meyer Memorial Trust, PGE Foundation, Juan Young Trust, Portland Business Alliance and Intel, as well as numerous contributions by individual donors.
