By Kelley Coen / Boys and Girls Club Director of Development
The purpose of R3 is to reduce reading regression, allowing participants to begin the next academic school year with equivalent or improved literacy skills. R3 is designed to reduce or eliminate summer learning loss or “summer slide.”
This is the final in a series of three articles on Newport’s Reading Reaps Rewards – “R3” – Summer Learning Initiative. R3 is a collaboration of the Newport Partnership for Families, Newport Public Schools and the Newport Family and Child Opportunity Zone’s Summer Learning Academy at the Pell School, the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County’s Camp Grosvenor, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center’s Summer Adventure Camp.
It may be the dog days of summer but daily we see advertising promotions reminding us of the Back to School countdown. The campers from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County will be ready to hang up the swim towel and jump back into classroom work. That’s because for the last five weeks campers have been participating in the Reading Reaps Rewards (R3) program daily at Camp Grosvenor.
The purpose of R3 is to reduce reading regression, allowing participants to begin the next academic school year with equivalent or improved literacy skills. R3 is designed to reduce or eliminate summer learning loss or “summer slide.”
At Camp Grosvenor, children aged 6-9 participate in daily literacy and educational enrichment activities. R3 is taught by certified teachers with the goal to facilitate a high-quality summer learning program. Children attend art and literacy focused activities daily and participate in activities with Casey Farm, Clean Ocean Access and the URI SNAP ED program. Participating youth also receive free books to take home and experience wildlife up close through interactions with the Roger Williams Park Zoomobile.
A day at Camp Grosvenor is a day full of activities to keep our kids engaged and learning. In addition to daily literacy activities, youth have the chance to experience a wide range of fun and exciting programs. From swimming in the Narrow River, to climbing the 45 foot Helix Tower on our adventure course, to field games and archery, participants will never run short of fun things to do! The mission of the Boys & Girls Club is to “inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need help most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens”.
R3 is one of the signature programs of the Newport Partnership Families, a summer literacy program operating at three sites in Newport including the Newport Family & Child Opportunity Zone Summer Learning Academy, the Martin Luther King Center, and the Boys & Girls Club’s Camp Grosvenor. Through experiential learning activities, the program provides fun and engaging activities for children ages 6-9 that help them maintain their literacy skills in the summer months. R3 has been operating for 18 years, and has evolved from a pilot project testing various strategies into a data-driven program that utilizes evidence-based approaches to prevent summer learning slide, which is particularly acute among low-income student, who lose an average of more than two months in reading achievement in the summer months. R3 is aligned with the Newport school district’s Campaign for Grade Level Reading.
The R3 program would not be possible without the generous donations of BankNewport; Newport Fed Foundation; Rhode Island Foundation/Newport County Fund; Prince Charitable Trust; Herbert E. and Daisy A. Stride Memorial Foundation, van Beuren Charitable Foundation, the Bazarsky Family Foundation and individual donors.
For further information about the R3 Program or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please contact Susan Schenck, Interim Administrator, Newport Partnership for Families, 31 John Clarke Road, Middletown, RI 02842, sschencknpff@gmail.com, 401-845-2561.
