Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Autauga County School System was recently recognized on a national level at the 2024 National Elementary and Secondary Education Act Conference for last summer’s summer camp and enrichment programs.
The district partnered with the local YMCA branches to host camps not only providing childcare.
for the month of June but brought enrichment and learning opportunities for students and provided valuable skills such as swim lessons as part of the partnership program.
This partnership was made possible by the one $2.5 million in federal investments, and through this partnership the Autauga County Schools, ACS, saw a 67% increase in maintaining or increasing literacy for those students that were enrolled. Those federal investments will be used to continue the program for the summer of 2024 as well.
Additionally, Kristin Dial-Williams, Autauga County Schools federal grants coordinator, will be accepting the NAFEPA Alabama State Leadership Award, or the National Association of Federal Education Program of Administrators, this March for her efforts in leading and maintaining the federal grants and advocating for opportunities within Autauga County.
“Just to be recognized on that level is awesome, I didn’t know it was going to happen and that we were spotlighted because of our partnership with the YMCA. What we did with our federal funds and with the growth academically, the YMCA was a big part of why we had growth like we did,” Dial-Williams said.
Behind the scenes Dial-Williams and Libby Frankel, the Autauga County Schools coordinator of curriculum and instruction, put in countless months of spreadsheets, coordination with local YMCA directors, transportation and the ACS Board as well as their own hard work to make these opportunities a reality for Autauga County students.
The program was for the entire month of June and offered enrichment activities that would pinpoint where students had a deficit. Most of the exercises focused on phonics or phonological awareness, comprehension, team building, character development, vocabulary, fluency and brain-based movement opportunities and games that focused on all those aspects.
The program was on a lottery system and included not only Prattville students but students from Autaugaville, Marbury and Billingsley, Pine Level and more. Every expense down to the lunch and snacks provided, transportation to the school or YMCA, drop-off/pick-up sites was paid for through federal funding that Autauga County had received and received from the hard work of Dial-Williams and Frankel.
“We invite students to camp based on data per the Numeracy and Literacy Act. The Literacy Act requires that we provide 60 hours of instruction and reading, and the Numeracy Act is 40 to 70 hours. The goal of summer learning often is zero, from the end of the school year to the beginning of the next school year, and they come in with what they left that school year with. That 67% was just an average of all our kids who attended camp, and that percentage of students came in at or above where they left the last school year,” Frankel said.
A typical day at camp started in the morning with breakfast and the enrichment activities in the morning. Some kids were then picked up around lunchtime. Then the YMCA enrichment opportunities were to follow.
Funds from the grants were also used to purchase materials for summer learning and enrichment activities. However, those materials were used for many purposes beyond summer learning, Dial-Williams and Frankel confirmed. Most of the materials such as textbooks, novels and other items used for learning could be used in the classroom for the coming school year.
In order to continue receiving funds to make this program accessible, free and continuous, Dial-Williams stated to contact your local senators and legislatures as they gear up in planning for new line items and express the need for programs like this.
“We want to continue what we’ve been doing. It’s been such a great success, and I just want to keep on doing that for our community. Our love and our hearts are for the children and what their best interests are. Some of these kids may not get the opportunity otherwise,” Dial-Williams said.
According to Frankel, studies have shown that children that participate in activities over the summer, such as going on vacation, visiting museums, other camp opportunities and participating in community events helps them maintain growth the following school year. As opposed to a child that doesn’t have those experiences, it impacts the child’s elementary life and educational growth down the road.
“We try to serve as advocates for student achievement and student opportunity. When kids are active in the summer, whether that’s through our reading and math camps or through the YMCA, there is so much data that supports summer involvement for children and what that looks like in terms of growth and development,” Frankel said.
Some of those opportunities may not be feasible for all families, but within the community there are various free options available through local libraries and other businesses throughout. In Prattville, ACS has numerous links on their website, under ‘Parent and Family Engagement’ and ‘Curriculum and Instruction,’ for enrichment activities that can be done at home.
Also, on the ACS website the summer calendar also alludes to activities that are related to numeracy and literacy events that are happening locally or even how to make grocery shopping and mundane tasks a learning opportunity.
Stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Michales and others also offer educational crafts geared towards children once or a few times a month for free or at a discounted rate during the summer, Frankel stated.
“I had a vision in my head, and we just took it, and ran with it, and it was a huge success. I’m just thankful for the curriculum and instruction, I saw other districts that did it, and wanted to get us started in that direction as well. I’m just thankful it came to fruition,” Dial-Williams said.
