St. Paul, Minn. (April 12, 2010)-The Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc. announced the availability of the 2010 Academic Enrichment Guide.This annual publication is a reference to summer camps and out-of-school-time enrichment programs. Programs featured in the Guide run the gamut from offering academic support; allowing students to pursue their interests and passions in art, theater, music, sports or the environment; and visit college campuses.
Overall, these programs contribute to assisting a student develop skills and envision the next step on their individual journeys: from elementary school to attainment of a college degree.
Put simply, unstructured out-of-school time exacerbates the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers. Specifically,
• Most children lose approximately two months of mathematical computation skills during the summer.
In addition, low-income children also lose more than two months in reading achievement, even though middle-class peers make slight gains.
• Halting and reversing summer learning loss is especially important when one considers that lower income students’ skills improve at close to the same rate as those of their more advantaged peers during the school year.
MMEP has always recognized the importance of out-of-school time enrichment experiences as integral to healthy, holistic development that ultimately leads to academic success. As such, MMEP has published an annual guide to enrichment programs and summer camps since 1989.
The Guide helps establish a clearer pathway to college enrollment by educating low income and students of color and their families as to the importance of academic enrichment programs, and making them aware of the many programs available to them.
Individuals can order their complimentary copy of the 2010 Guide by completing the online order form found at www.mmep.org. The 2010 Guide is made possible by support from the Medtronic Foundation, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corp. For more information about the Guide, please contact Amanda Ziebell-Finley.
For more information about MMEP please contact Jennifer Godinez, associate director, or visit www.mmep.org.
