‘Brain Gain’ program combats learning loss over summer
Problem is proportional to family's socioeconomic status
Don’t let the soft eyes and bright smile fool you — when it comes to issues of social justice and giving back, Lynette Barnes, 24, means business. Barnes [right] was recently hired as one of the teachers in the “Brain Gain” summer pilot program at the Asbury unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County.
The program is designed to combat learning loss experienced by many students over the two-month summer vacation from school, according to a press release from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County. It will be offered to middle and elementary school age summer camp attendees.
While all children lose some academic skill in the summer months, the amount of academic loss that takes place is directly proportional to the child’s family socioeconomic status, according to the National Summer Learning Association.
Barnes, a 2006 graduate of Asbury Park High School, loves “anything that has to do with community activism and kids,” she said. The head of the foundation sponsoring the “Brain Gain” program calls her an example of what his foundation seeks to promote — encouraging young people to come back and make a positive contribution to the communities where they were raised.
Barnes grew up in the area and attended the Boys and Girls club when she was young. She earned her undergraduate degree in May from The College of New Jersey where she majored in women’s and gender studies.
The key to a successful education is “making education not only about school but about learning,” Barnes said. Her goal as a teacher in the program is to “keep it fresh and make it fun and try to instill a love of learning instead of the drudgery that is public school.”
Low income students lose about three months of grade level equivalency over the summer — in comparison to the one month loss of grade level equivalency middle income students experience, according to the Summer Learning Association. By fifth grade, low income students are as much as three years behind their middle income counterparts.
“Those two months in the summertime are crucial,” said Leah Greene, child care director and summer program coordinator for the Asbury club.
Teachers spend too much time at the beginning of a school year “re-teaching instead of refreshing students,” said Greene. “The Boys & Girls Club is concerned about that issue.”
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County is one of six clubs in New Jersey selected by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to pilot the program, according to Douglas Eagles, executive director of the Monmouth County club. A total of 25 of the 4,000 Boys and Girls clubs throughout the country will be taking part in the pilot program.
The program’s curriculum is made up of 18 “stand alone” modules, according to Greene. Each modules time line lasts one week. There are nine elementary modules, six middle school modules and three high school modules. The Asbury-based club will be piloting programs at the elementary and middle school levels this year with the hopes of eventually expanding the program to offer the high school modules, according to Greene.
Since the summer program lasts seven weeks, Greene was charged with choosing the seven she believed would be the most “active and engaging for kids to participate in.”
“Within each module is an overarching theme,” said Greene. “Module two’s theme is ‘dream team from history’ so students will be learning about heroes and looking up heroes in the community.”
Each weekly module ends in either a small individual or group project, according to Greene.
“It’s a pilot program, so it is a work in progress, but it’s fun,” said Greene. “It’s not your typical read something in a book and answer questions.”
The program was made possible through a grant made by the Bullivant Family Foundation, according to the press release.
Todd and Tammy Bullivant attended a fundraiser hosted by the Monmouth Boys & Girls Club in March, which led them to become more active in the Asbury-based club.
Todd Bullivant is a Monmouth county native; his family foundation “exists to help and inspire disadvantaged New Jersey youth to develop, grow, and realize their full potential regardless of adversities faced,” according to the foundation’s website.
“The Boys and Girls Club was a perfect fit,” said Bullivant [pictured with his family below]. “The summer months are really a down time for all kids. This program gives them education in the months they don’t typically have it and it gets them back into the school year.”
“If they can be taught to think critically and objectively, that is the cornerstone for academic growth,” said Bullivant, who believes in “empowering rather than enabling” people in order to truly make a difference.
Bullivant sees Lynette Barnes as the prime example for what his foundation seeks to accomplish.
“If we could get 10 men and women like this young woman to get out of the club, go to college, and to come back, we can make a real difference,” said Bullivant.
Barnes believes students from the inner city who attend college can have a profound effect on their communities after they graduate. She hopes to enter a masters program in public policy or law in the near future.
“I’m shocked that more people don’t come back and give back to the communities they are from,” said Barnes. “I’m back because I wanted to make sure I did my part.”
Barnes is more than hopeful her involvement with the program is going to prove positive.
“I don’t like to waste my time,” said Barnes. “I know I’m definitely going to have an impact there.”
The Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County will be hosting their summer camp from July 1st through August 23rd. They will be offering limited-time deals on registration at their annual community day block party on Saturday.
