Lehigh Valley Recognized for Commitment to High-Quality Summer Learning

Allentown, PA  – The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has recognized the Lehigh Valley Summer Learning Coalition, led by United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV), as a Bright Spot community for 2018.

“The GLR Campaign uses Bright Spots to capture the most inspiring and promising work underway in communities, schools and programs across the country. We’re honored with this national recognition, because it really highlights how our community works collaboratively to enhance summer learning experiences for the kids who need them most,” said Beth Tomlinson, Director, Education, UWGLV.

Launched in 2015, the Lehigh Valley Summer Learning Coalition aims to raise community- level awareness about the importance of summer learning, increase access to high-quality summer learning opportunities for low-income youth and increase the quality of existing summer learning programs throughout the region.

“Da Vinci Science Center has been proud to participate in this initiative for the past three years, providing integrated STEM and literacy programs for students in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. United Way has provided key data, awareness initiatives and opportunities to collaborate that have transformed our team’s thinking about summer and driven innovation in our programming. Our STEM Summer Learning programs are fun, have a unique co-teaching model and are based on engaging topics like insects and robotics. Topics like these engage kids in authentic reading and writing activities needed to read on grade level and foster a lifelong love for STEM and literacy.  These programs have reversed learning loss for over 100 kids and counting,” said Karen Knecht, Director of Education, Da Vinci Science Center.

The coalition includes representatives from the arts and cultural community, athletics, STEM providers, city recreation departments, police departments, early childhood providers, higher education institutions, community centers, school districts, faith-based community, corporate sponsors, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs.

“Access to high-quality summer learning can prevent learning loss, which is especially prevalent among kids from low-income backgrounds. That’s why strengthening the community’s summer learning opportunities is a key strategy in our regional campaign for grade-level reading success Lehigh Valley Reads, which aims to ensure that all kids can read on grade level by 2025,” said Jill Pereira, Vice President, Education, UWGLV.

Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and career success, because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” National tests show that two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders (four-fifths of whom are from low-income families) are not reading proficiently. Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives.

GLR Bright Spots promote peer exchange and peer learning by offering concise, yet meaningful stories about the specific actions taken by Network communities that contribute to success and help drive improvement. Bright Spots are designed to enable communities to “steal shamelessly and share seamlessly” with colleagues across the country who are generating solutions to similar challenges. This year’s Bright Spots focused broadly on highlighting innovative approaches and promising strategies for achieving bigger outcomes, larger impact and more sustainable scale.

“These Bright Spots are doing what it takes to change the trajectory of children’s lives,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. “We applaud them for taking up the challenge to increase reading proficiency and improve the overall academic achievement of children in low-income families through innovative means.”