As June turns into July, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oceanside (BGCO) serves hundreds of local youth a day during the 10 weeks of fun and exciting summer camp. Last summer the BGCO had a record number of campers, with more than 500 youth participating. 2016 Camps are held at the Townsite Clubhouse and Libby Lake Elementary School.
Campers from 5 to 18 choose from more than 50 camp themes including Project Runway, Ratatouille, Survivor, Junior Anglers and Splish Splash. Campers also participated in many fun and impactful field trips that may include the San Diego Zoo, Knott’s Berry Farm, Oceanside Harbor, Birch Aquarium and deep sea fishing.
Providing engaging and academically enriching programs is critical to our youth, but especially so during the summer. Summer learning loss is a very real side effect of summer vacation. Research shows that most students lose “two months of grade-level equivalency” in math skills every summer. The significant loss of skills and knowledge during the summer affects all children, but most especially low income youth, like many of our Club members. In fact, it’s responsible for more than half of the achievement gap between lower- and middle-income youth.
The BGCO has implemented STREAMing Ahead, a Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts and Math (STREAM) program, throughout the organization. It is designed to develop a greater interest and appreciation for the world of science, technology, research, engineering, art and math and its relation to real world applications and careers. By providing STREAMing Ahead to our youth during the summer, we have an enormous opportunity to prevent significant summer learning loss in the youth that we serve. “By providing exposure to a plethora of fabulous and fun activities, not only are we keeping youth engaged, but also keeping them from falling behind,” said Jodi Diamond, CEO.
