Connecting …
Whether I am seeing the emails, photographs or links to media coverage–from all appearances and after just two weeks, I am prepared (and more than a little bit proud) to call the district’s new Summer Spark program a success. Summer Spark, a unique new summer program designed by the district to provide students entering grades kindergarten through fifth with engaging, experiential learning opportunities–something that can challenge and entertain each student. There is no cost to families for students to participate.
The program is the brainchild of Mrs. Taryn Miley, our director of teaching and learning, and is under the guidance of Mrs. Kelly Kahmann. The idea was to combat some of the learning loss that typically takes place over summer months. That loss, coupled with some of the post-pandemic struggles, motivated Mrs. Miley to reach into her bag of tricks and create a program that we hope will counter the loss– even allow many of the children to increase their skills. With some additional support from community liaison Kristina White, who brought many of our community partners on-board, Summer Spark has become just what it was intended to be–a fun, unique program that provides students with access to books, learning stations and terrific outreach activities. To make it as engaging as possible, Springfield Local Schools partnered with several community organizations to provide students and their families (this is not a drop-off program) with connections to experiences beyond the typical classroom walls. There are even weekly themes incorporated into the learning stations and outreach activities. Many of those themes take advantage of the talents and passion of our classroom teachers, who also are onsite to engage students and families in one of their favorite activities– reading.
What I appreciate most is the opportunity for our high school students and community partners to be a part of Summer Spark’s success. Our volunteers appear to be having as much fun as the students. I’d like to name each person, but space just doesn’t permit this. Suffice it to say, we couldn’t do this without the high school students and our friends from Calvary Church, Compelled Church, the Dwelling Place and Holland Free Methodist. Consider, too, that Mercy Health made a significant and generous donation to Connecting Kids to Meals, to allow hot meals to be served at each Summer Spark session. Since food insecurity remains a concern in this and almost every neighboring community, having Mercy partner with the district in such a generous way deserves both recognition and thanks. Add to their generosity that of Promedica, who invested significant funds to provide the grand prizes that incentivize students to read, read, read; Walker Funeral Homes, who generously purchased gift card prizes from local vendors to support both Summer Spark and our community; the Countertop Shop, whose investment in us underwrote programming and materials; Walmart Foundation, that for years has supported our creative literacy initiatives; Glass City Federal Credit Union and Scott Stigall State Farm, who provided tote bags for the children to carry books back and forth to the sessions, plus Yoder Machinery and Culver’s, who joined forces to provide participants with a special treat at the final sessions. This deserves a wow.
I truly appreciate the efforts to offer the program outdoors. Mrs. Miley was very purposeful in her efforts to design Summer Spark to be mobile–a district van brings the learning to all students. Being outdoors, seeing friends and the familiar faces of some favorite teachers seems to be bringing a lot of smiles to both young and older faces. The energy felt at each session is contagious. It feels good to see children having so much fun while they’re learning.
Monday: Crissey Elementary School (no sessions on July 4).
Tuesday: Dorr Elementary School (no session on July 5).
Wednesday: Holloway Elementary School (no session on July 6).
Thursday: Holland Intermediate (no session on July 7).
The van will park outside each school building from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the designated days. Snacks will be provided, and staff from our partner Connecting Kids to Meals will serve lunches from noon to 12:30 p.m.
Summer Spark continues through the week of August 1 through 4, but will not be offered during the week of July 4 to 7. Even if a student was not registered at the beginning, I know they and their family will be welcome to find a book or two or three to take home. It’s not too late to catch the Spark. Contact kellykahmann@springfieldschools.org with questions.
