"Summer Expereince! Vitural/Hands-on Hybrid"

Audience:

Class of 2026 for both Lansing School District & Waverly Community Schools

Purpose: Summer Programming (to help prevent "summer learning loss") is one of the pillars of the federal GEAR UP grant, and the work plan we follow.

Goals: To develop and execute a facsimile of a Summer Residency in a virtual setting. We needed to provide the excitement, engagement, fun and team-building that is traditionally found in camp-type programs across the nation.

To accomplish this, we created an ingenious and innovative approach, which truly combined the best of virtual and hand-on possibilities in these unusual times. GEAR UP has a long and consistent history using active learning and hands-on activities to great effect and sustained impact.

Each student received a "GEAR UP Grab Bag, " which contained all the learning supplies needed for the curriculum (7 subjects: 4 Core + Arts + SEL+ Life Skills). (Then the instructions were interactive zoom sessions.) These were EXTENSIVE supplies, and filled THREE shopping bags. For example, math was taught through cooking and measurement ("Eating Your Math"), and students received not only measuring cups, bowls, utensils etc., but all the food items necessary for the simple no-bake recipes we utilized.

These "GEAR UP Grab Bags" were extremely popular -- the students were delighted to be doing active learning at home, even if instructions were virtual.

As per usual, discussion and student reflection followed with GEAR UP staff facilitating.

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Project Contact:

  • Samantha Luna-Simmons
  • Office of College Access Initiatives
  • Associate Provost for University Outreach and Engagement


Partners

  • Waverly Middle School
  • Dwight Rich School of the Arts
  • Gardner Academy
  • Post Oak Academy
  • Eastern High School
  • Everett High School
  • J.W. Sexton High School
  • State of Michigan - Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO)
  • U.S. Department of Education
  • Waverly Middle School



Report of calendar year 2021 activity.