Introduction

In order to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens, Boys & Girls Clubs focus on three priority outcome areas: Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Good Character and Citizenship. 

Summer Brain Gain, a foundational program in the Education Core Program Area, is designed to prevent summer learning loss. Unless young people practice academic skills over the summer, they lose an average of two months’ worth of math skills.ⁱ Youth from low-income families also lose an average of two months’ worth of reading skills.ⁱⁱ Summer learning loss stacks up from year to year, broadening the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth.ⁱⁱⁱ The achievement gap between youth of different socioeconomic levels has nothing to do with student motivation or ability. It has everything to do with access to enriching learning experiences. 

The good news is that six weeks of summer learning programs can produce statistically significant gains in academic performance.^iv That’s why BGCA is proud to offer these developmentally appropriate, project-based learning materials to help Clubs keep young people learning in the summertime. 

As a key program supporting Academic Success, Summer Brain Gain is designed to help all youth graduate on time, motivated to learn, with a plan to succeed in today’s modern workforce. 

Education Programs 

Education Core Program Area

Education programs complement and reinforce what youth learn during the school day, while creating experiences that invite them to fall in love with learning. Rooted in social-emotional development practices, programs in this area enable all youth to be effective, engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future. As an informal learning space, Clubs have an opportunity to offer both remediation and enrichment, all while inviting youth to discover and pursue passions that connect to future opportunities. Education programs include experiential learning, so that youth learn actively, through a “hands-on“ and “minds-on” approach. 

At all developmental stages, Education programs will prompt youth to plan and prepare for the future. This includes observing and practicing the social-emotional “soft skills,” exploring career options, and engaging in programmatic experiences that prepare them to learn and work beyond high school. Programs and experiences supporting employability encourage youth to explore career options and the postsecondary pathways to their chosen career, develop skills necessary for success in postsecondary education and the workforce, and apply their skills through real world experiences.

Education Outcome Statement: To enable all youth to be effective, engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future. 

Education Skills: In order to successfully learn and work, youth need to build not only academic skills, but social-emotional skills as well. Social-emotional skills help youth build healthy relationships with themselves and others, recognize and manage emotions, and solve problems. All of the Education programs, including Summer Brain Gain, are designed to build the academic and social-emotional skills that enable youth to reach the Education goal of becoming effective, engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future. 

Education programs in Boys & Girls Clubs support the development of the following academic and social-emotional skills.   

How Summer Brain Gain Supports National Education Standards 

BGCA education programs support national standards such as the Common Core State Standards, Next-Generation Science Standards and the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Standards. Each of these standards is a specific, developmentally appropriate learning goal that describes a skill youth should be able to perform after learning certain content. The Common Core standards detail rigorous learning goals in Language Arts and Mathematics, organized by grade level. Additionally, the related “Core Habits of Mind” describe key ways of thinking learners who have achieved the Common Core standards. The Common Core has been adopted by 41 states as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.^v 

The Common Core standards don’t explicitly address social-emotional learning, so programs in the Education core program area are also designed to support the Core SEL Competencies as defined by CASEL. 

Youth Development Professional’s Role in Academic Success

Positive youth development is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.^vi

Youth development practices that support teaching and learning are essential for quality Education programs. Education programs, when facilitated with high-quality youth development practice, will help youth develop the attitudes, behaviors, and skills needed to become effective, engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future. 

Youth development professionals help youth become more effective and engaged learners when they: 

• Model curiosity and encourage youth to ask questions. 
• Aim for co-inquiry as a “guide on the side” not a “sage on the stage.” 
• Engineer for success and allow for mistakes: While staff provide the supports necessary for youth to successfully complete projects and activities, they also include enough challenge so that youth have the opportunity to learn from mistakes. 
• Help youth connect new learning to previous experiences. 
• Ask questions to check for understanding and prompt youth to think about their thinking. 
• Teach learning strategies in addition to content; so that while youth learn new things, they also discover how to learn more effectively. 
• Attend to learner diversity with multiple options for engagement, representation and expression. 

Youth development professionals help youth stay on track to graduate with a plan for the future when they: 

• Give youth a voice in Education program activities and establish multiple opportunities for youth to make choices, have input, or share leadership roles in the Club’s programs and activities. 
• Engage community partners to serve as mentors and volunteers to enhance programming. 
• Model positive workplace behaviors and incorporate opportunities for youth to practice them in the Club or Youth Center. 
• Help youth connect experiences and interests to future career opportunities. 

Practice Positive Youth Development to Create Inclusive Clubs 

Inclusion is a core component for building a safe, positive environment in your Club or Youth Center. In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs must create safe, positive, and inclusive environments for all youth and teens – including every race, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, religion and cultural belief. By creating inclusive environments at our Club, we improve the overall experience for all young people. 

When staff practice positive youth development, they help ensure all youth: 

• Feel represented 
• Have a sense of belonging 
• Can meaningfully participate in programming 

As you implement Summer Brain Gain, consider and use strategies that will help youth feel affirmed, safe, and engaged with Club experiences that meet their needs and abilities. For more information on building and sustaining an inclusive environment, visit Program Basics on BGCA.net. 

Positive Youth Development Supports Character and Social-Emotional Development 

All programs, including Summer Brain Gain, offer opportunities for staff to model, recognize, reinforce and reflect upon character development. 

Positive youth development provides direction for how you interact with, engage and model behavior for youth. You get to shape the lives of young people every day. As a result, you set the expectations and show youth what the essential character traits – caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness – mean and how they look. These character traits come to life when youth practice social-emotional skills like teamwork, conflict management and emotional regulation. Young people use skills to lead themselves and others, as well as demonstrate positive attributes in citizenship, like community engagement and voting. 

You can start to build character using “caught and taught” approaches. Youth “catch” social-emotional development skills when they observe staff modeling appropriate behaviors and skills, and when they interact with peers. Youth can also be “taught” skills to build good character when the skills are explicitly introduced and practiced through program sessions and activities. Use this formula to understand how character develops over time: 

Staff Model Good Character + Youth Practice Skills Regularly = Character Development 

To build character traits, include many opportunities for youth to practice social-emotional skills. These include skills related to: 

• How youth feel about themselves 
• Their relationships with others 
• Their ability to regulate emotions 
• Their ability to solve problems 

For more information, see the Reference Handout: Practicing Social-Emotional Skills to Develop Character in Program Basics BLUEprint. It will show you the specific social-emotional skills young people should practice in order to demonstrate positive behaviors as described by the six essential character traits.

Staff facilitating Summer Brain Gain can model good character in the way they support all learners, offer feedback rather than criticism, and encourage honesty and responsibility. 

When Character Development Is Present: 

• Youth development professionals model, and youth practice skills that display respect, fairness, trustworthiness, responsibility, caring and citizenship. 
• Youth understand and successfully get along well with others. 
• Youth are better able to control their emotions and solve problems.

When Character Development Is Absent: 

• Youth do not feel a sense of belonging at the Club. 
• Youth lack skills that foster positive peer relationships. 
• Youth lack self-control and act out in frustration. 

Education Programs and Resources 

BGCA provides developmentally appropriate Education programs and resources for all age groups, as shown in the chart below. 

How to Use This Resource

Summer Brain Gain is organized into themed, week-long modules. Each module includes five sequenced activities that culminate in an opportunity for youth to share the project they’ve created. Clubs and Youth Centers that facilitate Summer Brain Gain for all age groups will notice that, while each age group works on different projects, the theme is the same. While the sessions within a module should be facilitated in order, the themes can be rearranged and facilitated in any order throughout the summer.

For each module, you’ll find an overview and five 60-minute sessions. Some Clubs and Youth Centers choose to select a module and extend it beyond a single week. Some choose to stretch the Summer Brain Gain READ modules throughout the whole summer, to give youth more time to read the books independently. 

However you facilitate Summer Brain Gain in your Club, you are encouraged to integrate career exploration into the experience. This year’s Summer Brain Gain materials reference a wide variety of career fields, including anthropology, architecture, food science, entrepreneurship, music, activism and law. If your summer program includes guest speakers, field trips or special projects, such opportunities can be used to help youth explore related career fields. 

To ensure both a high-quality Club Experience and the safety of all youth, it is recommended that the group size of all sessions adhere to the staff-to-youth ratios outlined in the Program Basics BLUEprint. For groups of youth age 6 and older, plan for a staff-to-youth ratio between 1:10 and 1:15. For youth groups that include children younger than age 6, plan for a staff-to-youth ratio between 1:8 and 1:12. Staff-to-youth ratios should never exceed 1:25 for any activity.