City of Charleston summer camp to include Reading Partners curriculum

Originally published by CRBJ Biz Wire.

Charleston, S.C.—Yesterday, the City of Charleston Recreation Department’s summer camp at the Arthur W. Christopher Community Center (AWCCC) began with a new pilot program featuring a specialized Reading Partners curriculum.

During the school year, Reading Partners provides individualized literacy support and mentorship at schools throughout the community to help students achieve grade level reading skills. Through an evidence-based, data driven program model, students, on average, more than double their rate of learning with Reading Partners support.

Working with the City of Charleston Mayor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families and Recreation Department, Reading Partners developed a program for the city’s summer camps. During this pilot year, campers at AWCCC will received literacy tutoring and support from AmeriCorps members. The goal is to expand the program to additional summer camps in future years.

Across South Carolina, only 20 percent of third graders from low-income families are able to read at grade level and as many as 80 percent of students lose reading skills during the summer months. By integrating their curriculum into summer camp programs, Reading Partners will help to curb this learning loss and prevent students’ reading drop off.

Mindy Sturm, Director of the Mayor’s Office for Children, Youth, and Families said, “The development of strong reading skills is foundational to all learning, and we are excited to work with our Recreation Department and Reading Partners to extend this focus to our summer camps. The Reading Partners curriculum has proven highly effective in schools throughout our community and I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on our campers.”

Kecia Greenho, Executive Director of Reading Partners South Carolina said, “We are thrilled to be able to partner with the city to offer this program at Arthur W. Christopher Community Center. This is an opportunity to make sure that summer is filled with learning opportunities for our children and could possibly allow us to scale across the city in the future.”