Abstract
Studies document that low-income children lose academic skills over the summer. Six years of reading achievement data collected by Energy Express, a nationally recognized summer reading and nutrition program in West Virginia, has established the efficacy of the intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics of a voluntary summer program that foster participation. Interview data indicates that children attend because they perceive the program as fun; large creative art (for example, full-body portraits, appliance box castles, wall murals) seems particularly important. Energy Express gives children both the fun they want and the enrichment they need in the summer.
Recommended Citation
Cobb, Nila; Harper, Stacey; McCormick, Kerri; and McNeil, Kimary
(2006)
"Summer Programming: What Do Children Say?,"
Journal of Youth Development: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://open.clemson.edu/jyd/vol1/iss1/8
