Dreamers’ Academy 2016 provided a safe, fun and enriching program to over 100 youth from Portland and the surrounding neighborhoods of West Louisville. These children and teens enjoyed recreational and fun horizon-broadening experiences. Most importantly, they received academic support in math and reading that has prepared them to be more successful in school.
Children living in low socio-economic communities typically experience “summer learning loss,” while their middle-income peers either tend to hold or improve their educational skills over the summer. This contributes significantly to academic achievement gaps. In addition, many of our youth also face many hours of unsupervised time at home or on the streets. In addition to the dangers this situation poses, the lack of structured interaction can result in the loss of communication and behavior management skills.
Dreamers’ Academy helped our children and teens build skills to achieve their dreams.
We are very proud to report that the majority of our youth avoided “summer learning loss.”
- 85% of our youth maintained or improved their reading skills
- 90% of our youth maintained or improved math skills.
Our teens also learned about the principles of leadership and developed job readiness skills through our Youth Leaders in Training Program. Dreamers’ Academy also allowed our youth to explore higher education and career options through college visits and engagement with local professionals.
Our youth participated in academic activities which centered around the summer theme of “Around the World.” They learned about all the different continents which included lessons on culture, history, geography and introduced them to famous cultural sites. Our other summer activities included:
- Drumming with River City Drum Corp
- Matisse inspired painting with Judy Riendeau, The Hungry Potter
- Cooking with Chef Mat Shalenko
- Drama classes
- Tennis lessons for our under 10 youth
- Vocal group
- Peace Education Program activities
- Weekly field trips
- College visits
- Job and career readiness workshop with Humana volunteers
- Workshop with Kentucky’s Poet Laureate
- Field day with BB&T volunteers
- Back to School Bash sponsored by KFC
We made major strides this summer in setting our youth on the path to success. We will continue to build on this foundation by providing our children and teens with a quality after school program and ensure each of them have the opportunity to achieve their dreams!