‘Really positive’ summer school prepares kids for fall learning

CEDAR RAPIDS — Rising third-graders in the Kids on Course University summer school program took turns mixing flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil, water and food coloring to make Play-Doh Wednesday at Hoover Community School.

Heidi Hassen, an enrichment teacher with Kids on Course University, said her job is to make each day fun and introduce students to new experiences so they’ll want to come back to learn.

Over the course of the seven-week program, Hassen said she watches her students “become so much more confident” and prepared for the school year ahead of them.

Elementary school is when kids develop their “academic self,” said Hassen, who is a school counselor at Alexander Elementary School in Iowa City during the school year. If a child feels like they’re not smart or good enough in school, it makes it harder for them to want to go.

“In the summer, I see a lot of kids taking risks. Failure is what leads to learning,” Hassen said.

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Kids on Course University was started in the summer of 2013 by the Zach Johnson Foundation to prevent learning loss over the summer. Students are chosen for the program based on their reading scores on the state reading assessment.

The Zach Johnson Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to helping Cedar Rapids children and their families. Johnson is a professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship.

This summer, 475 Cedar Rapids students from 21 schools were selected to participate in the free program where they focus on retaining or growing their reading, writing and math skills.

Year after year, 80 percent of students who attend Kids on Course University more than 80 percent of the days make growth in reading, said Stephanie Stulken, Kids on Course University program director.

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At Kids on Course University, kids have “really positive experiences” in school, Stulken said. “For some of these kids, school is extremely hard,” she said.

Stulken said the goal is for kids to learn so much they don’t have to return to summer school year after year — although she estimates about 50 percent of the students do return to the program.

“It’s bittersweet for me to tell families they don’t qualify. They want them to come back,” Stulken said.

Grace Murphy, 10, a rising fifth-grader at Maple Grove Elementary School, said she enjoys being with her friends and teachers at Kids on Course University. She’s learning fractions in math.

Recently, Grace’s teacher read to the students “The Giving Tree,” a children's picture book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. The students then worked to recall what they heard and write about it.

“You should never ask for something and not give anything in return,” Grace said.

Queen Ndaire, 9, a rising fourth-grader at Hoover Community School, also said she enjoys attending Kids on Course University, especially crafting — most recently she made a bracelet in class — learning reading and math and playing outside with her friends.

Over the last two years, the program has been largely funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), federal pandemic relief funding. However, that funding is set to expire in September 2024.

Stulken said the school district will have to rely again on the Zach Johnson Foundation to help fund Kids on Course University with an estimated $200,000 donation for the 2025 summer school programming.

The program also is partially funded through a 21st Century Community Learning grant through the Department of Education.

According to the 2021-22 evaluation submitted by the school district for the grant, the cost of the program to the Cedar Rapids Community School District was $257,795, which largely paid teacher and bus driver salaries.

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According to the data — which is the most recent available — 61 percent of students in Kids on Course University improved in math. Of students in the program, 224 were white, 113 were Black and 55 were Hispanic or Latino.

The majority of the students — 361 — were economically disadvantaged and qualified for free and reduced price lunch. Eighty-eight students were in the English Language Learner program and 129 students had disabilities.

Stulken said that makeup was “on purpose” as these were the students with the biggest gaps in learning.

Brian Meyer, a Kids on Course University site manager and instructional coach at Maple Grove Elementary School during the school year, said he tries “everything” he can to make it “more enjoyable than anything else they could do in the summer.”

As a part of their “Fun Friday” this week, the kids are going to AirFX Trampoline Park.

To learn, “they have to want to keep coming back,” Meyer said. “My favorite part is the moment when they’re proud of what they are learning. They’re really proud of what they’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

Donations to Kids on Course University can be made online at zachjohnsongolf.com/Foundation.aspx.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com