Mayor's Office

Mayor Helps Kick Off Summer Learning Days in Flint

FLINT, Mich – The Flint & Genesee Literacy Network, along with member organizations, is presenting National Summer Learning Days for Flint and Genesee County. This week-long effort, Tuesday, July 25 through Saturday, July 29, will emphasize the importance of summer learning opportunities. A series of activities, classes and events is planned to reduce summer learning loss at numerous “cradle to career” sites across the county.

“Every summer, youth from low-income families lose two to three months in reading while their higher-income peers make slight gains. Most youth lose about two months of math skills in the summer,” said JaNel Jamerson, Executive Director, Flint & Genesee Literacy Network. “Research shows that while gaps in student achievement remain relatively constant during the school year, the gaps widen significantly during the summer. That’s why summer learning is so important.”

The following community partners will be providing activities and events for National Summer Learning Days: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flint and Genesee County, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Flint/PEAK, Communities First, Inc., Carriage Town Ministries, Crim Fitness Foundation, Department of Public Safety – UM-Flint, Fairhaven Community Center, Flint & Genesee Literacy Network, Flint Community Schools, Flint Development Center, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint Public Library, Genesee County CARD, Genesee County Parks, GISD Head Start, Park Place Hair Studio and Family Housing Realty, Ruth Mott Foundation/Applewood Estate and Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village.

“Summer learning loss, the phenomenon where young people lose academic skills over the summer, is one of the strongest contributors to the high school dropout rate. For many young people, the summer “opportunity gap” contributes to gaps in achievement, employment and college and career success. National Summer Learning Days activities are being offered at multiple sites to address this alarming trend,” stated Bilal Tawwab, Superintendant, Flint Community Schools.

City of Flint Mayor Karen Weaver believes, “the learning process should not stop in the summer. It’s important that all children and youth have access to high-quality summer learning experiences to help them succeed in school, their careers and in life overall. The opportunities to obtain enriching summer experiences, healthy meals, a first job and more, can open many doors and possibilities to brighter futures for our young people. We are grateful to have so many learning and literacy resources in the Flint community for residents to take advantage of.”

Join in the summertime learning fun! Look for the Summer Learning Days Guide for a directory of all activities. For more information on Summer Learning in your neighborhood, log onto flintliteracy.net/summer-learning or call 810.232.2526. 

The Flint & Genesee Literacy Network consists of a variety of community stakeholder organizations, and has launched an ongoing collaboration to align and improve literacy resources and services in Flint and Genesee County. The central idea of the Network is that solving the basic skills challenges requires new approaches to improving basic skills. In line with the strategic components of the recently adopted City of Flint Master Plan, the Network is committed to building on the strengths of community organizations, as well as ensuring that individuals needing to improve their literacy skills have access to sufficient and appropriate information.