2011 Excellence in Summer Learning Award!
The Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program Receives the 2011 Excellence in Summer Learning Award from the National Summer Learning Association!
Award-winning programs provide low-income students with quality Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) learning.
Baltimore—The National Summer Learning Association has chosen programs with strong science components—the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program is a recipient of the "2011 Excellence in Summer Learning Award.":Click here for Press Release
This annual award recognizes summer programs demonstrating excellence in accelerating academic achievement and promoting healthy development for young people, as measured by the Association’s Comprehensive Assessment of Summer Programs. Winning programs also demonstrate exemplary practices in overall programming, including supporting staff, schools and other program partners in fulfilling shared goals.
For the first time, the Association in 2011 specifically looked for models of excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. STEM learning has been a national focus since President Barack Obama launched the “Educate to Innovate” campaign for excellence in STEM education in 2009.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education started the free Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program in 1964. Each summer, it serves approximately 2,800 children of migratory farm workers from kindergarten to 12th grade at 22 different sites running for four to five weeks. During the school year, more than 5,300 students are served. The program’s site in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Bayfront Maritime Center, prefers to focus on STEAM (the added “A” stands for art) with a maritime theme. Older students get first-hand sailing experience and training on catamarans, an historic, gaff rigged Friendship Sloop and other smaller vessels. Students learn navigation on the same 3D navigation and radar simulation equipment used in United States Coast Guard approved maritime training programs. Younger students create wooden steam-powered model boats using traditional hand tools and ShopBot CNC digital fabrication equipment. The Bayfront Migrant IU5/ECSD Summer program is in its 14 season at the Bayfront Maritime Center and is a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Education- Migrant Division, The Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit 5, the School District City of Erie, and the Bayfront Maritime Center.
“The Pennsylvania Department of Education is honored to have been selected as a recipient of the National Summer Learning Association’s award,” said Carolyn Dumaresq, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Elementary/Secondary Education, which houses the Migrant Education Program. “The department is committed to providing children of migratory farm workers access to quality educational programs throughout the summer months. It’s important for these students to participate in academic programs during the summer in order to be successful throughout the school year. I want to thank all Migrant Education Program locations throughout Pennsylvania for their dedication and commitment to preparing students for a bright future.”
Three other winners of the 2011 Excellence in Summer Learning Award are the Fiver Children’s Foundation and Global Kids, Inc., both based in New York City, and Phillips Brooks House Association in Cambridge, Mass.