Bonita Patton was the guest speaker at the Clemmons Kiwanis Club meeting on Sept. 19. Patton is the senior program director for youth development for the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina. She runs the Summer Learning Academy (SLA) for the YMCA. Seven Title 1 schools are represented in Forsyth County. Children are given this opportunity by school guidance for students needing extra learning time and is a 5- to 6-week program. The program requires attendance of missing no more than three days or the child is removed from the program. There are around 50 spots per school offered each summer and the program includes the following:

1.  Lessons aligned with the local school district and developed by a certified teacher

2.  Students are taught by teachers from local schools

3.  Breakfast and lunch are provided along with a snack

4.  Weekend meal packs from Second Harvest Food Bank are provided

5.  Safety Around Water (SAW) is provided

6.  Parents are required to attend weekly educational workshops

The curriculum concentrates on maintaining their learning in math, reading, science and enrichment. Social emotional learning is also provided. Four hundred and sixteen students were served this year in SLA, and 63 percent maintained or improved science scores, and 61 percent maintained or improved their math scores. The cost of an SLA program for one school is $30,000. United Way and YMCA of Northwest North Carolina are the organizations responsible for each of the seven programs offered here.

You can help by contributing to your local YMCA branches Annual Giving Campaign (AGC).  See the individual branches for more details.