Last month in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area, when the temperature was only in the upper 40s, City Connects Program Manager Laurie Acker was getting ready for summer.
Acker was hosting the annual Summer Service Fair, an event where City Connects Coordinators learn about the community partners who are offering summer programs for students.
“These are high-quality programs at low- or no-cost,” Acker says.
Across the country, City Connects staff members are doing the same work, making summer plans for students and their families that range from food support to academic programs to summer camps. That’s because in City Connects schools, planning for summer means making plans to meet students’ basic needs for things like food and health care. It means planning for fun, planning for getting to try new things, and planning for the growth that comes from all kinds of enrichment.
Acker’s Summer Service Fair featured a diverse group of community partners that offer a full range of opportunities. Community partners who couldn’t attend the fair sent their information.
Part of planning for summer is offering students lots of choices. At Acker’s fair this included:
• InnerCity Tennis, which uses “tennis as a vehicle to tap into the deep potential within each child”
• TreeHouse, which works with homeless teens, and
• Bethel University, which offers arts and academic camps
Additional cultural organizations that sent staff to the fair or sent information include The Minnesota Children’s Museum, Hennepin County Library, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, and St. Paul Recreation.
Coordinators can tell students who are interested in technology about LakeStreet Youth Labs, Steve & Kate’s Camp, which offers many programs including coding and robotics, or about St. Catherine University’s Next-Gen: AI and Data Science program.
For kids who love to perform, there’s Artistry, a theater and visual arts program; Theater Mu, which supports Asian-American theater; and Young Dance’s summer camp.
Keystone Community Services provides services and enrichment opportunities.
And Tostino-Grace High School offers academic camps, athletic camps, and performing arts camps, including Fun with Chinese, softball, wrestling, Brass Camp, and Jazz Ensemble.
“My goal is to share as much information as possible with coordinators, so that they can share this information with families. And because they know their students and families, they can target the right information to the right kid.”
It’s a great way for coordinators to boost the excitement of looking forward to fun, to longer days, and to the many discoveries that can be made during a well-planned summer.
