FALL 2016 · VOL. 10 · NO. 01
From the President and CEO Low-income children typically experience a steep decline in learning over the summer — often as much as two to three months in reading skills — while their middle-income peers typically gain skills. By fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave disadvantaged students up to as much as three years behind their wealthier peers. That’s why at CAMBA, summer fun is educational. Our enriching summer programs introduce young people to a world of new possibilities — whether it’s earning a paycheck, leading community service projects, learning to code, visiting cultural sites that are beyond their family’s economic reach, or gaining a new passion for arts, music or even micro-organisms.
Summer of Inspiration for CAMBA Kids The CAMBA campers, pictured above, spent part of their summer vacation in front of a computer screen. But instead of watching cartoons or playing video games, they learned to build electronic devices and program computers, through the CrEST program at NYU’s Engineering School and partially funded by Con Edison (story on page 3). They were among 3,800 low-income youth who gained new skills and explored their City in stimulating CAMBA camps and programs, offsetting the “summer slide” in academic skills. Read on to see how CAMBA puts fun and learning into summer.
At summer’s end, our young participants were headed back to class with minds sharpened by unique and stimulating summer experiences. You can read about some of their adventures in the pages of this newsletter: • O ur middle school campers who enrolled in NYU’s CrEST program now have a roadmap to potential careers in the STEM field — including science, technology, engineering and math;
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CAMBA Campers Score ‘Significant Gains’ in Life Skills We know that young people flourish in our summer camps, and this year, CAMBA piloted a youth development tool designed to measure the impact of one summer camp.
Parternering with Youth INC and data analysis company Algorhythm, CAMBA surveyed 63 low-income campers, 11 to 14, at our Beacon 269 summer camp at the start of a five-week session and at its conclusion. The results of this small sample were impressive: 86% of our campers scored
“significant gains” in six core areas: self-management, social skills, positive identity, social capital, contribution (to well-being and the larger community) and academic self-efficacy (motivation and mastery of school performance). Research shows that short-term gains in these areas are linked to longterm future success, including career readiness, high school completion and avoiding risky behaviors. This fall, CAMBA will expand the assessment to additional afterschool programs.
GAINS IN SOCIAL CAPITAL 71 38 Pre-survey Results
Post-survey Results
Social capital measures youths’ positive bonds with people and institutions, and is a key skill for building a support network and sense of belonging.