The interns also benefit from professional learning opportunities. Joseph Jamison from United Way, Lauren De Haan from the UNC Asheville Career Center, and David Dowd from Bank of Americahave provided workshops for the interns to build their professional knowledge, skills, and experience.
An abundance of research supports the implementation of community-based summer bridge programs to decrease reading loss, especially for youth from low-resource households. A study published in Reading & Writing Quarterly (2018 34:3, 263-280) demonstrates that a well-designed, community-based summer program can improve literacy skill outcomes for elementary-aged students.
Igniting Superhero Readers Summer Camp intentionally emphasized recruiting youth of color for paid internships to serve as tutors. Recent research documents that students of color taught by those who share their identities and cultural backgrounds benefit academically and emotionally (source: Teach for America, June 2019).
In last summer’s program, the bond between the interns and campers was almost instantaneous, and the results were encouraging. The campers received pre-and post-tests conducted by Title I Reading Specialists from Asheville City Schools, using the same tools used during the school year. Of the campers who completed both the pre-and post-tests, 41 out of 44 (93%) improved their test scores in at least one literacy area.
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