Keely: Summer learning program in Baltimore ‘tremendously innovative and effective’

Now that school has started back up across the country, I am reflecting on this summer when I, along with 19 afterschool and summer learning professionals from South Carolina, journeyed to Baltimore, not with the primary intention of feasting on crabs (though they were tasty) or rooting for the Orioles during a winning streak, but instead with the purpose of observing a summer learning program garnering national acclaim for Baltimore City Public Schools. Our traveling group of teachers and administrators, school district leaders and nonprofit executives are fellows of SCALE, South Carolina Afterschool Leaders Empowered, a program of the Riley Institute at Furman University. Across the country, afterschool and summer learning programs engage and energize students, build positive relationships and instill a deep love of learning that transcends the school day.