9 People have already signed the challenge, you should too!
All children lose valuable skills over the summer months when they are not positively engaged. BELL is asking parents, friends, and concerned community members to commit to ensuring that the children in their lives are growing this summer. Help children achieve their potential by keeping their minds in shape for learning and their hearts open to dreaming.
BELL is a leader in the summer learning movement. BELL is a national non-profit organization that delivers educational summer and after school programs for children. Each year, more than 11,000 children become "scholars" in BELL's school-based programs in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Flint, and New York City.
Scholars increase their reading, writing, and math skills, strengthen their self-esteem, and access a track to college and lifelong success. The BELL Summer program has become a critical resource for school districts seeking to extend learning time for children and turn around under-performing schools. The program's impact has inspired federal legislation called the STEP UP Act, designed to make high-quality summer learning programs available to millions of children, and been cited as a national model of excellence by President Obama, the National Center for Summer Learning, and the American Federation of Teachers.
While all children tend to lose valuable skills over the summer, children from under-resourced communities lose significantly more ground. Studies show that these students lose 2-3 months of academic skills over the summer.
Over time these losses accumulate, contributing significantly to what is known as the "achievement gap." Summer learning is increasingly recognized as a powerful solution to closing the achievement gap by education policy experts, the federal administration, and school district leaders. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan support high-quality summer learning opportunities as a powerful tool for leveling the academic playing field and helping students compete in a global market.
BELL's programs have proven that summer learning can transform children into scholars and leaders. For a child, this all begins with one lesson, one "ah ha!" moment. This is what we mean when we ask you to "Make Summer Brighter," and it all starts with just one act from a caring adult like you.
The BELL Summer Learning Challenge is presented by two champions of children, Fidelity Investments and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Fidelity Investments has supported the BELL Summer program for the past five years and strongly believes that high-quality programs like BELL are making a difference for children.
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Studies show that all children lose valuable skills over the summer months. This has a negative impact on our children as they do not enter the following school year ready to learn, and by the time they finish high school they will have lost years of potential learning opportunities. By accepting the BELL Summer Learning Challenge, you will be committing to take proactive steps to keep a child in your life actively engaged this summer.
Take your daughter to a museum, read to your nephew, help a neighbor with a science experiment, or volunteer with a youth-serving non-profit organization. Anyone can commit to making a difference in a young person’s life, and after taking the Challenge you will find tips and recommendations for fun and educational activities that help make summer brighter for a child!
We are also on twitter.com/bellsummer