Our greatest hurdle in introducing children to the unique cultural and natural environment of our community has been transportation. We launched a GoFundMe campaign to drive support for our TRANSPORTATION costs.
In Project MOST’s iGrow Summer Learning Lab children explore their own creativity through the inspiring natural and cultural environment of the East End of Long Island. Through local partnerships and collaborations, we foster a sense of stewardship to safeguard and discover the flora and fauna of our landscape and waterways and the history and artistic heritage of our community. Learning from field experts is an immense opportunity to promise access to new explorable environments and impactful real-world concepts for our students, who arrive from all financial backgrounds and experiences. Please help us make learning beyond the classroom possible and help us raise $10,000 to cover transportation costs.
During this nine-week program, children ages 5 to 13 from across our community are immersed in an enriching summer of gardening, cooking, art, environmental studies, and educational field trips, at an affordable rate. No child is ever left out of our program due to family finances, so our tuition works on a sliding scale. As we commence planning for our summer syllabi, always integral to our agenda is the belief that introducing students to the cultural and natural resources of the East End is essential to creating lifelong learners. It is our hope to introduce students to professionals and engage them in artistic, scientific, and wellness-focused activities, which have included:
• Seining in Accabonac Harbor;
• Visiting a beekeeper on an organic farm;
• Hiking the Walking Dunes in Napeague;
• Swimming lessons;
• and visiting local Farmers’ Markets to name a few.
According to the Afterschool Alliance, "All children and youth are at risk of summer learning loss—not just those who struggle academically. With this year’s unique demands to learn from behind a screen, students have faced new challenges and in some instances, setbacks, but "Summer learning programs can help students reduce summer learning loss.” We know the importance of summer programming and that participating in a summer program this year, perhaps more than ever, can have marked positive effects on a student’s development.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we adopted strict safety protocols and were able to safely welcome a limited number of students to our 2020 summer program. We expect summer 2021 to be similarly grounded in safety measures as we await mass vaccination. This summer will focus on outdoor excursions.
As advocates of children’s access to educational experiences that reach beyond the screen, we hope that together we can raise funds to directly contract a permitted school bus operator for the summer season and uphold the highest standards of safety––an estimated expense of $10,000. We are grateful for your support and commitment to summer enrichment programs.