Members of the Lafayette-Oxford-University community have an important opportunity Wednesday (May 20) to support an innovative summer learning program operating on the University of Mississippi campus.
Horizons, a key initiative in the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement’s mission to fight poverty through education, is a six-week, full-day summer learning program that provides academics, enrichment and recreation to underserved students from the L-O-U community. The UM affiliate will join other Horizons affiliates across the country Wednesday for an online crowd-funding event with a single goal, to raise $1 million to expand existing programs and bring Horizons to more communities nationwide.
“UM’s Horizons program is transforming lives for both children in the community and university students,” said Albert Nylander, director of the McLean Institute. “For six weeks, schoolchildren are afforded an opportunity to learn and play on campus, increasing their cultural capital through enrichment activities. University students are also making a difference in the lives of these schoolchildren through their volunteer efforts in the program.”
Horizons offers a quality learning experience outside the traditional school year that supports academic achievement and healthy youth development. Children who begin Horizons after kindergarten are invited back every summer for at least nine years. This long-term commitment means that children in Horizons will accumulate learning gains that will prepare them for success in college and their careers.
“Research shows that students not reading at grade level by third grade are unlikely to graduate from high school, and low-income students enter kindergarten already behind in literacy skills due to disparities in opportunity, vocabulary and nutrition,” explained Emma Tkachuck, McLean project manager and Horizons director. “Without summer learning opportunities, the gap grows every summer to almost three years by fifth grade. Early summer learning is essential to close the achievement gap and preserve the learning potential of these youth. Horizons aims to eliminate summer learning loss for each of its students.”
Horizons will host 64 kindergarten-third grade students from the Lafayette County and Oxford School Districts this summer. On average, students who participated in the previous two summers started the school year at or above where they ended the previous year.
Horizons is a community-based program with a number of campus and community partners contributing Horizons students’ success.
For Wednesday’s event, all Horizons staff, board members, partners, alumni, volunteers, donors, corporate partners, sponsors and supporters will come together for a friendly, yet competitive, race to raise $1 million for Horizons programs across the nation, with all money raised locally remaining with the local affiliate.
This one-day fundraising event has the potential to bring crucial resources to the children served by Horizons at UM. For more information, visit https://horizonsgivingday.org/#npo/horizons-at-the-university-of-mississippi and like Horizons on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/horizonsum.