This summer we were excited to offer Project 24, our first ever summer reading program.

Thanks to funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation our program was in operation three days a week for eight weeks beginning June 14th and ending on August 4th. That means each student was able to participate in at least 24 hours of staff-supervised reading instruction and practice over the course of the summer.

We were also able to offer a lunch program in conjunction with Project 24, which provided at least 240 meals - prepared and served at the First United Methodist Church of Greenville - over the course of the summer. The church made lunch available to over 10 students per day.

(Above Left: Kyle showing off an independent reading book - Harry Potter. Such good taste! Above Right: Erica working with Taylon on a writing assignment. Erica was a dedicated volunteer that helped make Project 24 a success!)

Students were immersed in a reading rich environment and were challenged with grade-appropriate reading and writing activities. A Simple Room library was started using funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant, which allowed us to offer a great variety of books to our participants. We also took weekly trips to the Greenville Public Library.

Forty-three students attended the program at least once while it was in operation with many returning several times to check it out throughout the summer. We were very impressed with the attendance, enthusiasm, and consistency of the 22 students who participated regularly and made the most of the program. These are awesome numbers for a summer reading program, much less a program in its first year of operation!

We consider the experiences of the 22 students we were able to work closely with throughout the summer to be a great success. Based on surveys conducted before and after the program, many of the regularly participating students reported reading more books this summer than last year. Almost all students indicated that they enjoyed reading with Project 24 instructors and volunteers, as well as independent reading times. One boy wrote that he learned that "reading is like a TV in your head." These are the kinds of things we love to hear!!

Project 24 took four fun and educational group trips this summer. Our first trip was to the St. Louis Zoo and St. Louis Science Center, where we toured the exhibits and worked together to build several arches. We also visited a variety of Missouri state parks - Johnson Shut-Ins, Elephant Rocks, and the Onondaga Cave. Our final trip was a celebratory excursion to Six Flags St. Louis. Our group made the most of our tickets and played from open to close, rode roller coasters, splashed around at the water park, and ended the day with the glow-in-the-dark parade.

(Below Left: Project 24 participants took to the river for some afternoon swimming after touring Missouri's Onondaga Cave. Below Right: Garrett focuses on a butterfly that landed on his hand during swimming.)

(Above Left: Our kids worked as a team to construct an arch during our trip to the St. Louis Science Center. Above Right: Students gathered around a St. Louis Zoo guide who showed them a piece of paper made from elephant feces! Eww!)

We are looking forward to encouraging our students to keep developing into readers as we move into the school year and launch our tutoring programs. We also want to express our appreciation to our summer intern, Brittney Embry, for all of her help with reading program. It was a joy to have her around The Simple Room this summer - we are so glad to have her back this fall!
 

A special thanks to our sponsors: