Preparing Your Students for Summer Break
With summer break on the horizon, now is the perfect time to start thinking about what opportunities await your students this summer! Whether your child could benefit from some additional academic instruction, summer nutrition programs, or a job or internship, it's important to continue building on both the academic and personal skills students develop throughout the school year.
Summer Learning
If your student needs a little extra instructional time this summer to set them up for success in the new school year, tutoring and summer school are incredible options available to them. You can reach out to your student's school or district to see what offerings are available. While it will vary statewide, there are both in-person and online options for students for a variety of core subjects. Some districts may also have specific summer enrichment programs like Summer Career Accelerators and Math Enrichment Programs. Learn more from your student's school or district office.
Summer EBT "SUN Bucks" and Summer Nutrition Programs
When school lets out, millions of children lose access to school breakfasts, lunches and afterschool snacks they receive during the regular school year. Summer Nutrition Programs help fill this gap by providing free meals and snacks to children who might otherwise go hungry.
This summer, the USDA is launching SUN Bucks, a new program providing grocery-buying benefits to qualifying families with school-aged children during the summer months when schools are on summer break. SUN Bucks benefits are issued to debit-like cards (EBT cards) that families can use to purchase nutritious food. Beginning in the summer of 2024, families will receive $120 per eligible child for the summer period. If your family or a family you know could benefit from meal assistance over the summer months, learn more here.
During summer break, school districts will also be sharing information about their Summer Nutrition Programs that provide free meals and snacks to children, ages 18 and younger, who might otherwise go hungry. Last summer, through community partnerships, NCDPI served over 3.9 million meals to hungry children at 2,492 sites across the state. If you know an organization who would be interested in becoming a Summer Nutrition Program sponsor, learn more here. Learn more about summer programs here, and be on the lookout for information from your local district on Summer Nutrition Program meal sites.
Jobs and Internships
When academic instruction is paired with real world experiences, our students will have the technical and durable skills needed to succeed at any company, in every career, in college or the military. Earlier this year, in partnership with the NC Chamber, NCDPI released a toolkit for employers to help them learn how to engage with K-12 education to create more opportunities for students to explore the workforce before graduation. By working directly with businesses and industries, we will be able to better help students explore, engage and experience jobs of the future with potential employers.
Counselors or CTE teachers at your student's school will have more information to share about available opportunities through district partnerships. Students can also learn more from ApprenticeshipNC. And, of course, any summer job a student takes whether it be retail, fast food or a camp counselor, will ultimately better prepare your student for life after graduation.
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