GADC launches Summer Camps for Elementary Youth

The programs, offered by GADC’s Educational Team, aims to provide a fun yet educational program for elementary school students to spend the summer months in.

We are building on the community sponsored in-school literacy work completed the latter part of the school year, as part of the Auburn Gresham Gold Community Driven Educaiton Initiative. We thought it would be a great time for GADC to provide a program for younger students. "Although we realize the concept of summer camp is not new, it is new as a standard of excellence (going for the "GOLD") in local elemementary schools, in our Auburn Gresham neighborhood, says Tenisha, GAGDC education director.

Our goal is to provide enrichment programs that will help kids learn and have fun at the same time.

The four-week program will focus on areas including a reading pilot based on the After School Litz® curriculum and our "GOLD" level Arts (music) literacy session,  gardening, tennis, fishing, open reading time and meals provided, at no cost. The young students even get to pick and keep several new books.  The program sessions are designed to be fun and all sessions will revolve around "improving youth's reading and engaging families to interact by reading more."

We have enlisted student teachers from Illinois State University (STEP UP) program and certified in-school and after-school providers to meet the needs of the approximately 30 students who are expected to enroll in the summer mini-camp.

The four-week inaugural mini-camp is already underway. It runs from July 1st - July 31st, at Westcott Elementary School, 409 W. 80th Street, 773-535-3090. There are still slots available, but hurry registration time is running out. We don't want the youth to miss out on the weeks of reading enrichment and hands on fun sports and gardening sessions!

The free mini-camp is sponsored by Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation, LISC Chicago and Chase.