CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY

2013 Rahm’s Readers & Learners

Full STEAM Ahead: The Summer Learning Challenge

In partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry and with the

Chicago Park District

Supporting partnerships with Goodman Theater and

Art Institute of Chicago

A Project of the City of Chicago and Chicago Public Library Foundation

STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math

Fact Sheet

Full STEAM Ahead: The Summer Learning Challenge is an eight-week summer learning program to encourage, inspire and motivate children, teens and parents to learn and explore in the summer time. This program is based around STEM skills, critical to the success of 21st Century learners and the theory of multiple intelligences. This includes a critical art and creation component to encourage creativity and problem-solving. Research indicates:

· Children who do not take part in educational activities lose 1-3 months of academic standing during the summer.

· All children lose up to 3 months of math and science learning during the summer. Children who read during the summer maintain or improve their reading skills.

· Young children need to hear a minimum of 1,000 stories read aloud to them before they are able to learn to read.

· Parental involvement is critical in academic and out of school success.

Together with our partners kids and families will engage in out of school time activities aimed at encouraging 21st Century skills. Our learners will : READ books & magazines both fiction and informational , LEARN by attending programs and going on field trips, DISCOVER by using appropriate online sites, and CREATE by solving engineering challenges and making artistic connections.

Last year 60,232 children read over 1.5 million books in our 30th annual Summer Reading Program, making it the largest city-wide summer reading program in the nation. This year, under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s leadership and vision to provide summer activities for every child in Chicago, we aspire to reach new customer segments including early childhood, teens and parents/caregivers. Furthermore, we also will aim to provide more children with important learning activities and programs across the City of Chicago in order to help encourage summer learning and mitigate summer slide. All activities are reflected upon by children and then reported to a volunteer. Closing the learning cycle in this way is vital to the success of children’s learning, allows librarians to provide the next best learning experience and gives children a role model for out of school time learning. Additionally, public programs funded by the CPL Foundation build a framework of STEAM skills, necessary for 21st century success for children of all ages.

DATES: June 17-August 10, 2013

LOCATIONS: All locations of the Chicago Public Library

KEY AUDIENCES:

· Early learners, ages 0-5

· School-aged learners, ages 5-13

· Teens, ages 13-18

· Parents/caregivers learning with their children

· Adults

Formal partnerships are in process with Chicago Public Schools Summer Bridge students, Step Up to Kindergarten, Chicago Park District, After-School Matters and MSI Teen Lab Learners, HIVE, and YOUMedia participants.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

· Targeted learning activities will be distributed for preschool, elementary and high school learners.

· Each learner will receive a specially designed Full STEAM Ahead discovery log which includes booklists, online site listings, program listings, and MSI Summer Brain Games: STEM activities with a special art tie-in from the Art Institute of Chicago.

· Collections of new paperbacks will be available at each branch.

· All children will have a chance to win paperback books during weekly raffles.

· Children who read for 300 minutes and complete one of each other type of learning activities such as attending programs and participating in online activities will receive a prize.

· All learners who complete the challenge and continue their summer learning will be entered into a tech package raffle.

· To encourage inter-generational museum experiences, family field trips to the Museum of Science and Industry, the Goodman Theater for special STEM and related theatrical events, and to the Art Institute to tour the Caldecott Art Exhibit will be provided.

· Museum of Science and Industry will conduct a minimum of 48 programs in communities across Chicago that will be followed up by a family field trip to the Museum.

· All learners receive a personalized certificate at the end of the program.

· All parents who complete the challenge with their children will be entered into a special parent tech package raffle.

· Learners and their families will be invited to attend a Family Day at the Museum of Science and Industry.

COST: FREE

SPONSORS: To be announced