Nearly 250 college students will begin their training Saturday, June 12, in the Say Yes Summer Institute to work as counselors in Say Yes to Education summer camps. The Say Yes Summer Institute is a week-long intensive training program that incorporates project-based lesson planning, cultural relevance, classroom management strategies and leadership development.
The institute will open with a trip to Walnut Park for adventure-based learning experiences with Team Adventure, a Central New York company that organizes professional development workshops for small businesses and corporate groups focused on improving team performance, developing creative problem solving and resolving conflicts.
“Our hope is that our college students enhance their skills and expand their knowledge right along with the children that they will be working with in the camps this summer,” says Rachael Gazdick, executive director of Say Yes to Education.
Some 1,800 Syracuse City School District children, ages 7-10, who attend one of 12 schools in the district will take part in the Say Yes summer day camp program that begins July 6. The camps are designed to tap into and cultivate the intellectual gifts and talents of young people through hands-on activities, creative thinking and positive social interaction. Campers will spend their mornings engaged in challenging academic programs and their afternoons in outdoor activities such as sports, music, photography, dance, theater, nature, science and field trips.
The camps are offered free of charge and run Monday-Friday for four weeks in July. For more information, contact Susan Feightner, director of marketing for Say Yes to Education, at 443-1525 or sfeightn@syr.edu.
