Happy Birthday Happy Meal...

Today, a group of 30 five and six year olds at Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center got a special surprise from our neighborhood McDonalds: 30 happy meals for lunch! The Holt Road/Morris Street McDonald's was celebrating the burger chain's 30th year serving the popular "happy meal," so they surprised a group of summer day campers with the meals who were elated.

"This is SO cool," said one five year old, "We got to pick a hamburger or chicken nuggets and we got fries and a drink!" "And don't forget these cool toys!" piped up another young six year old.

Special thanks to the staff and manager of McDonald's at 3828 W Morris St, Indianapolis

Journals and Experiential Learning

While Summer Day Camp is about having fun, it's also about learning too. Our day campers spend a lot of time doing "experiential learning"--they learn about history not by reading a textbook, but by visiting museums and by acting out history. They learn about math not only from working through math worksheets but from counting seats in the bus on the way to lunch or from multiplying to figure out the total number of ice skates that they'll be using when they visit the ice rink for the skating lessons.

Our Summer Day Campers also spend time writing about their experiences in day camp---and we know that writing is very, very important. Unstructured writing activities provide kids an opportunity to be creative and to learn to love to write.

Here are two journal entries from kids in our ages 9-10 camp:

"Hi my name is Amber S.* and I am participaing in summer camp at Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. Yesterday I had fun spending time with my friend Kendra* and playing dodgeball. I really like everything. What I am scared to do is get in trouble and spiders. I really would like to go to Splash Island." --age 9

"I like going swimming and learning to doggie paddle. I had lots of fun yesterday. I like everything there was nothing I didn't like. I want to be a veterinarian and take care of animals when I grow up." --age 9

Too rainy for the zoo? Write a story!

It's been a very rainy June, making some of this summer's planned field trips a bit tricky. The good news is that the staff at MRNC is super creative and has all sorts of rainy day activities up their sleeves. So when last week's rain cancelled the kids' trip to the Indianapolis Zoo, our Summer Day Camp counselors pulled out the paper, pencils, and creativity and helped the kids do the next best thing to seeing the animals--writing about them!

Each of the kids ages 7-8 chose their favorite animal and worked in a small group with four other children to spin a tale (or, in this case a "tail") about their animals--all of the stories incorporated how the animals resolved conflict in a healthy way. They each then drew their animal using chalk art.

Here's just one of their stories (picture, drawn in chalk to left):

Once upon a time there was a baby snapping turtle and a baby kitten who were best friends--they played together every day. The monkey is his tree was so mad that a kitten and snapping turtle were friends. So the monkey yelled and screamed (saying ooo ooo ahhh) to the momma cheetah (the princess of the jungle!)--she said to the monkey, "Bring them to me for dinner!" The monkey was so happy to get rid of them that he stomped his feet. When he went to find the snapping turtle and baby kitten, he heard a female dolphin named Jaliana. She was singing. The dolphin said to the monkey, "Why can't we be friends?" Then the monkey joined in singing. The Cheetah (Princess of the Jungle) heard and she sang too. Then everyone joined and sang and danced. They were best friends forever and ever (BFF). The end.

What Summer Really Means

For many parents and their kids in inner-city neighborhoods, the start of summer doesn't mean exciting family vacations, swim lessons, or trips to amusement parks. For parents struggling with extreme low-income and their kids, who rely on free/reduced price breakfasts and lunches during the school year, summer instead brings with it worry and anxiety about finances, safety, and food.

The challenges that kids growing up on the southwest side of Indianapolis face are very, very real:

-Only 44% of area residents 25 and older have a high school diploma and less than 5% of adults have any post-secondary education
-Over 25 gangs are active in Indianapolis with over 20 gangs identified as active on the city's Westside

Furthermore, research indicates that kids from families with low-incomes face significant disadvantages in the summer as compared to children from other socio-economic backgrounds (Center for Summer Learning):

-Two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al, 2007).
-Most students lose about two months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, while their middle-class peers make slight gains (Cooper, 1996). When this pattern continues throughout the elementary school years, lower income youth fall more than two and one-half years behind their more affluent peers by the end of fifth grade.

In the midst of these challenges, kids need a place to go where they can learn, grow, and have fun--and that's why Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center's Summer Day Camp is so important.

Each summer, MRNC holds a ten-week day camp for up to 150 at-risk kids, aged 5-13, from 6:30 am-6:00 pm. Days are filled with activities, field trips, and meals that allow working parents to maintain full-time employment and peace of mind. And each summer kids are challenged to believe in themselves--to believe that they can graduate from high school, that they can go on to college, and that they can have the job of their dreams.

Thanks for believing in kids facing serious challenges here in southwest Indianapolis. Visit us on the web at www.maryrigg.org

2 College Visits, 1 Week, and...ghost stories?

Last week was a busy week for the twenty-seven kids in Mary Rigg's LEADERS program, a program specifically designed for pre-teens ages 11-13. Last week, the LEADERS not only visited two colleges, Butler Unitersity and Marian College, but they also volunteered at the city's Animal Shelter. And they just can't stop telling ghost stories (but more about that later)!

The LEADERS started the week off with a visit to Butler University where they toured the campus and met Butler students who shared their favorite things about college with the LEADERS. The LEADERS learned all the college lingo---"bachelor's degree," "master's degree," "financial aid," "major," and "minor" on their trip to Butler. They also loved the Butler University Aquatic Center where, they learned, student organizations host movie nights at the pool where they show movies like "Jaws."

On Thursday, the LEADERS loaded up the bus again and visited Marian College (soon to be Marian University, as the LEADERS were quick to point out!), located just 10 minutes from Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. The LEADERS student tour guide showed them all the highlights of campus--including the dorm rooms which made a real impression! "Well, I was surprised," said one of the LEADERS, "they're pretty small rooms with bunk beds. But it does look really fun to live there!" The LEADERS learned all about the college's signature nursing program and touched on the requirements for getting into college. Perhaps, though, one of the defining moments of this college visit was when the LEADERS' tour guide showed them an old mansion and shared the mansion's old history and ghost story. It's quite a legend--but you'll have to visit us here at Summer Day Camp to meet the LEADERS and to hear their re-telling of this story!

To volunteer to join the LEADERS or our other campers on their summer adventures, contact Cris Feay at 317-639-6106 ext 228.

Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center's Summer Day Camp provides a safe, fun, educational environment for kids from families with low-incomes on the southwest side of Indianapolis from 6:30 am-6:00 pm, Monday-Friday. Visit us on the web at www.maryrigg.org

Swimming, Hockey, and Books!

With the first week of Summer Day Camp under our belts, we're all geared up for a truly great summer!


Here are reflections from some of our youngest campers about their first week of Day Camp (in their own words, of course!):

• "We've gone to the park and that is so fun! We walk there with Mr. Don and our other counselors and we play on the swings and the slides. That is my very favorite part."
  
• "Ohhh boy! We went swimming at the park and we played in the water. We bring our own towels and then we bring our own swimsuits and we always, ALWAYS have to wear sun tan lotion."


• "Well, on the first day we talked about the rules and we made some rules together--you know, things about sharing and being nice. Summer Day Camp is really great."


• "We've been reading and learning about new books and now we're going to the library...they have a lot of books."


• "Every day we get lunch and breakfast and dinner too. I love eating dinner. We have noodles sometimes and macaroni, and chicken, and pasta too. And juice. And we always have to clean up our own plates!"


• On Friday we played hockey! The hockey players from Indiana came and they put up goals. And we all got sticks and they had a goalie and we got to play!"

All the buzz begins Monday!

Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center staff have been busy planning for the opening day of Summer Day Camp on Monday, June 1st. Check back next week to hear all the latest buzz!

(picture, right, Summer Day Camp 2008, ages 5-6 learned all about bumble bees)