Does an Extended Year Program for At RIsk Youth Promote Academic and Social Growth?
Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Berkeley Township Schools
Second Presenter's Institution
Berkeley Township Schools
Third Presenter's Institution
N/A
Fourth Presenter's Institution
N/A
Fifth Presenter's Institution
N/A
Location
Ballroom E
Strand #1
Academic Achievement & School Leadership
Strand #2
Social & Emotional Skills
Relevance
The program teaches reading for 2 hours each day to promote academics. We have added genius hour and makerspaces. We have the students choose what they want to learn. There is a physical education piece to this as well as the academic well being. Students receive a pre and post test at the beginning and the end of the program to show academic growth in reading fluency and comprehension.
Socially the students are recruited from the schools and the students are paired with an older counselor. Each counselor and junior counselor and teacher are required to have a "Child of Promise" and are told they are to connect with that child and make them feel like the program is designed especially for them. Google Forms are given to each of the children during the camp to see their feelings on a variety of issues such as how they feel at camp and how we can tailor the camp to their needs.
Brief Program Description
Berkeley Township Schools Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent created Camp Paw. Camp Paw is a free summer camp for students in the district that focuses on reading and social and emotional skills, but there is so much more. The school partnered with a Non-Profit Organization, The Learning Disabilities Organization to create a multi-tiered approach. Students who are deemed at risk are brought to Camp Paw as Campers and they are given 2 hours of Reading each day to prevent the summer slide. However "graduates" of the program have been recruited to be Junior Counselors and Counselors to act as "role models" for the younger students. Guidance Counselors work the the school's I and R S Team to define what At Risk means and the students have a 5 week time of their fife. There is a 100 percent return rate each year and students now also take trips that help with social skills, life skills, and volunteerism.
Summary
We will give participants relevant ways to design and create a program such as this that will help students at risk on a variety of levels. We will give them information on what has worked for us. How we recruit, how we test, how we evaluate the program and how we keep it fresh for the kids. We will talk about our future plans to increase this program into a year long experience for students "At Risk". We will give evidence to show how what we are doing works and give them guides to show what they need to do to get started.
Evidence
To prove effectiveness we can share our results on our Teacher Created reading fluency and comprehension tests as well as our standardized testing that we use for the program. We can have the results from the google forms (surveys) that show that the students felt more comfortable and throughout the camp and how it helped the students not only for the summer but in the future. We will show videos of students who are the success stories now that this program has been in effect for 11 years. We have videos on speeches from a child who was in a gang before the camp who is now the manager of a doctors office, a student who survived cancer and her mom leaving at age 8 to a nursing student and motivational speeches from families and their experience of the program and how it improved their lives.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Jeffery Zito is is a former Special Education Teacher who is now the Assistant Superintended of Berkeley Schools. He is a published author and adjunct professor at a local college. He has presented at many professional development opportunities and is the founder of Camp Paw. and is an Executive member of the Learning Disabilities Association
Dr. James Roselli is is a former Special Education Teacher who is now the Superintended of Berkeley Schools. He is a published author and adjunct professor at a local college. He has presented at many professional development opportunities and ion the Executive Board of the Learning Disabilities Association.
Keyword Descriptors
At Risk, Summer Program, Camp Paw
Presentation Year
2017
Start Date
3-8-2017 11:15 AM
End Date
3-8-2017 12:30 PM
Recommended Citation
Zito, Jeff S. Dr. and Roselli, James D. Dr., "Does an Extended Year Program for At RIsk Youth Promote Academic and Social Growth?" (2017). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 141.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2017/2017/141
Does an Extended Year Program for At RIsk Youth Promote Academic and Social Growth?
Ballroom E
Berkeley Township Schools Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent created Camp Paw. Camp Paw is a free summer camp for students in the district that focuses on reading and social and emotional skills, but there is so much more. The school partnered with a Non-Profit Organization, The Learning Disabilities Organization to create a multi-tiered approach. Students who are deemed at risk are brought to Camp Paw as Campers and they are given 2 hours of Reading each day to prevent the summer slide. However "graduates" of the program have been recruited to be Junior Counselors and Counselors to act as "role models" for the younger students. Guidance Counselors work the the school's I and R S Team to define what At Risk means and the students have a 5 week time of their fife. There is a 100 percent return rate each year and students now also take trips that help with social skills, life skills, and volunteerism.
