In Reach kicked off its Passport to Summer Week Program by holding its 2014 Summer Learning Day activities on Monday, June 24, with its Girls of Worth Literacy Club. The exciting day, which engaged 14 girls in a series of sessions in preparation for their week long travels, included a speaker who delivered a superb workshop, Dreams to Reality: Finding Your Passion and Purpose to Create Your Plan.
The purpose of Passport to Summer week was to encourage girls, who are rising seventh graders, to use the summer to continue their learning by exploring all of the amazing resources the Washington DC Metro Area has to offer (free Smithsonian museums, the best museums in the world) and to read and write to strengthen their comprehension and vocabulary skills. Each girl was given a travel journal and encouraged to record not just their experiences during the week; but, also to continue capturing their thoughts throughout the summer.
Although In Reach's programs are located in a suburb right outside of Washington, DC, many students do not have an opportunity to experience its many monuments and rich resources. Our student's Passport allowed them to enter the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and the National Aquarium in Baltimore; the National Museum of American History and the first day of the annual Smithsonian Folk Life Festival on the National Mall; and, last but certainly not least, Luray Caverns in Virginia where girls not only learned about stalactite and stalagmite formations but found their way out of a maze and challenged themselves on a rope course.
The Girls of Worth Literacy Club is held in partnership with William Paca Elementary School in the city of Landover in Prince George's County, Maryland. It is an after school transitional program for girls in their last year in an elementary school setting. Its purpose is to prepare girls for middle school by engaging them in fun, hands-on and confidence building activities that strengthens them academically and further develops their 4C's - communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity - 21st century "super" skills.
Everyone had a great time! See the proof right here.
