Community Partner : Maryland Out of School Time Intern : Ayesha Shible Site Supervisor : Paul Mincarelli
What is Maryland Out of School Time ? The mission of the Maryland Out of School Time Network ( MOST ) is to build a coalition of youth , families , communit providers , educators , funders , and policymakers to expand funding , implement more effective policies , and support quality for youth opportunities in the out of school hours .
These past six weeks at SummerREADS have been the most transformative of my teaching experience . Although I ’ ve tutored and taught small classes at local Baltimore elementary / middle schools , spending my summer teaching full‐time gave me the opportunity to develop strong connections with my students and work with actual classroom teachers from Baltimore City . From the not‐sothrilling experiences such as dealing with misbehaving students and managing recess in 90‐degree weather , to the amazing feeling of witnessing one of my students make it to the end of the monkey bars without my help by our last week , or reading to me with a smile on her face — every day came with its own highs and lows .
That ’ s where the nature of the SummerREADS program comes in . SummerREADS is more than just a summer camp , it ’ s the reality that a student doesn ’ t have to belong to a certain socioeconomic class to avoid the “ summer slide ” that comes from two months of out of school time . With the risk of losing a whole grade level of reading skills looming over the long sunny days , the program offers students an alternative : access to their own ( air‐conditioned ) school libraries . While there , students have the choice of three daily activities : reading , creative writing and arts and crafts . Additionally , our collaboration with local nonprofits brings guest workshops from the Maryland Zoo , the National Aquarium , Reading Partners into the libraries .
I was personally thrilled to be a part of a program where students not only experienced an academically charged summer , but they barely realize it ! The activities I planned were not designed to feel like school , but instead give students the opportunity to direct their own learning . Being a site counselor made it possible for me to read Charlotte ’ s Web in Spanish with a bilingual student and know that her comprehension skills were improving as she gave me her predictions of the story . Through locking into the students ’ own interests and holding exciting Arts integration my students and I spent six weeks together reading and learning , but most importantly having a fun summer . ‐ Ayesha
Tasks :
• Created weekly lesson plans focusin conjunction with Arts Integration th local non‐profit organizations incl . Y Reading Partners , Blue Water Baltim Heart
• Led classroom activities including re crafts
• Assisted in data entry and kept track attendance