♪ >> welcome to "beyond the headlines" i am cheryl jennings. we are looking at summer enrichment program for children. school may be over but e looking for ways to prevent brain drain for kids. they hosted hundreds in front of

city hall last month. they highlight all of the different city programs for kids to keep their brains engaged during the summer. it doesn't have to be with a book or a multiplication table. >> learning a new sport or learning a new skill engages the brain. actually it actually helps a young person develop all of the pro social behaviors. >> a recent study found kids forget about three months worth of instruction during a long summer break. brain drain is even more pronounced among low income kids who still have chance -- don't have chances to attend a camp or museum. carol lloyd is the executive editor of a great on-line resource known as grade schools.org. i love the name. >> thank you. good to be here. >> that has been around for a while. what does is it do? >> we have been around for 10 years based in san francisco but we are a national nonfrprofit tt help parents get a great education for their kids. we have a leading school guide

for school information in the nation and we have thousands of resources for parents in the form of videos, articles, downloadable free worksheets and nearly half of parents with school aged children use our site every year. >> we heard this statistic about three months of learning over the summer. that is just astonishing. >> it is amazing. most kids learn -- lose at least two months of math. kids from low income families are more likely to lose 2 or 3 months of reading in addition to that. >> that is how it breaks down. >> how do you brain stimulated with your resources? what are some of the specific things parents can do? >> we have specific recommendations. we have tips for every grade for preventing brain drain. so all sorts of articles that i recommend parents go on and look

at. i am recommending three basic tips and one rule which is, reading every day, writing something during the summer. get your kids thinking about writing. write a letter to grandma. have an older kid start a blog. if you have a kindergartner write them a little note in their lunch box and have them write a word back. something very simple but something that engages those kinds of thinking. most of all try to bring in some pr practice math in the sum erm. almost all kids lose math skills. it's the stuff they have to relearn in the fall and it's boring and there is no reason they have to spend two months repeating what they learned. >> that can be as easy and learning how to cook something and using measurements. >> definitely. you can do cooking when you are on a trip you count millage you calculate how much gas you are going to be using.

bring in the skills and i would also say it's really important especially for older kids just to say here practice this. here keep your hands -- keep your feet wet when you go back to school it's not a cold shower. >> what are some of the summer enrichment programs you refer to? >> we have a -- we are a national nonprofit. our focus is giving parents advice on getting out, signing up for enrichment programs. >> like summer camp. >> summer science program. we give on-line resources so that we tell people if you want to find the best camp in your area use this web site and it's not too late. there's a great web site called sign up for camp.com and you can go on sign in and put in your calendar of camp and do a search for your area and the miles around which you are willing to sort of drive, and once you are

in their system they start telling you about discounts and free programs. >> this is something any income family can do. >> it is totally free. you get plugged in you care about programs that have them available. >> the web site for everybody? >> sign up for camp.com. >> i used it myself this year. >> and your web site is there. >> thank you so much. we appreciate the information. >> thank you so much for having me. >> we have to take a short break we are going to learn about an exciting program in san francisco. stay wi so... [ gasps ]

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>> welcome back to "beyond the headlines." summer enrichment is so important for all people. late o it is not too late to sign up your child for a great learning opportunity. it is an exciting opportunity for young people. dr. brown of the third baptist church reverend bernard allen the executive director project director of the freedom school. reverend brown i want to start with you. the children's fund. >> they have a summer program called the freedom school. tell us all about that. >> it began 40 years ago to engage elementary and high school students. a summer program not just to read, not just to learn how to

write better, not just master math but to be responsible to help get people registered to vote. back in the day blacks were excluded they were intimidated and were not able to be enfranchised as voters. so others started this program to help those persons who had not been registered to maybe did not know how to read or write to go through a summer program of learning how to read and to write. >> so this program has evolved for many states. >> yes. the next days i am looking at young people in urban america african americans and other marginalized young people who are not doing well in school. they want to make sure they would not be idol but they would play catchup and when they went back to school in the fall they would be able to succeed with flying colors. >> why san francisco of all of

the cities in in the country? >> san francisco has a great problem. we have too many under achieving young people african american and latino communities. this free program is open in order for young people to not only catch up but others who are doing well to be challenged to do a better job in order to help someone else do a better job. >> let me ask you reverend allen this is a 6 week session. two weeks ago are you still a student? >> certainly. we have quite a few slots left available they are filling up more and more each day. we have 6 students coming in today. >> how many kids can you accommodate? >> we can accommodate 80-100 kids. >> that's a lot of kids. you are wide open or you need more kids? >> we would like more kids to enroll. but we again are filling up more and more those empty slots daily. so we definitely have enough

space for more kids. >> this is at the ida b. wells school in san francisco. is that a religious program? >> no, it is not. we are sponsored by a religious and spoegs institution third baptist. however the program itself is not affiliated with any particular religious interest group. >> i want to ask you how is the first baptist unique in the program. i know you talk about the history that is so important. this is important you are not invoking religion you are invoking education in a different way. it's wonderful. >> you can be a spiritual person if you are ignorant and untrained. a lot of bigotry and problems in the world is created out of ignorance. so a trained mind is a good mind. our theme of the freedom of school is. healthy mind, healthy bodies, healthy communities. that's how it goes.

>> that's wonderful. >> we have too much violence in our communities. too much under achievement. we feel through this kind of a program during the summer young people will have something construct you have to do and there by they will become good citizens who will not be a problem to themselves and to others. so they will be helping us make a better community. only 30 percent of the young people of san francisco's african american community finish high school. >> that's a bad track record. >> 30 percent. >> so we are going to do all we can and invite others to join us, make sure that in this rural city we really will be able to be a city where people will leave their hearts because most everybody will have achieved and contributed in making san francisco a really beloved city where all are achievers and not

many losers. it's based in san francisco but is it only for san francisco residents? >> no. we have students now who druf from as far as mar -- drive from as far as marin county and davis city. right now we offer van services by way of our sponsoring agency. again two accommodate as many kids as we can who need transportation. we are sincere through our efforts to engage the family in this enstruktive program. -- instructive program. >> thank you for being with us today. we have to take a break to talk more about this in a moment. but stay with us. we will be right back.

>> we are talking about summer enrichment in the summer. the students lose valuable knowledge required during the school year. joining us again is reverend bernard allen process director of the freedom schools and bob ivory a board member of the best on track program and facilitator of the freedom schools parents' workshop. reverend allen i want to give people more information on the freedom school. what are the hours? >> from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

monday through friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30. we serve breakfast which is again a free component of our program as well as lunch and a snack. 3:00 p.m. we close out except on thursday 6:00 pm families are invited to come. we a to guardian with their child to attend family workshops during which mr. ivory is our guest facilitator. the kids are separated from the parents. they watch an instructional video and are engaged in some activities freeing the parents to be fully engaged by mr. agra. >> these are mandatory workshop for parents and significant adults for attending camp. tell me what you do and why that is so important. >> it's extremely important because parents tter. parents are the first teacher. parents are that tie that bonds.

for me to engage the parents as we do our students allows them to have that continuity up to the school year. to be able to work with them one-on-one and to include things with their children allows them to i believe have a better opportunity to assess that the school year is approaching. >> what are some of the things you talked about? >> our first session was engaged. we cover topics like one in particular do you know enough about teaching which is a very interesting concept we have taken to the classroom. but also about parents know their children themselves. you would be surprised with the things you may not know about your own child you go into the classroom you expect to have that kind of relationship parent to child and also teacher to child. >> everybody is just so busy running in different directions what a great opportunity for them. reverend allen i know that third baptist church is the lead sponsor. it takes money. how does that work? how do you explain that?

>> we are always open to donations. but again thanks to the hard work of dr. brown who is always busy establishing presence and bringing awareness along with myself to this program. we are able to provide these services free of charge which includes field trips. >> great pictures of kids. >> it includes field trips we are definitely in need of and open to donations from persons who believe in what we are about and who want to be of a positive impact in these children's lives through this program which is designed to do so. >> i think you have a movie night, too. plus all of the food which is great. >> the family workshop night we serve free food. but again we provide free weekly field trips.

as a matter of fact this past friday the kids were taken to the movies to see that. >> we did that and put out an announcement on the friday before. they take the kids to see the movie that weekend. >> we try to save parents 6-18 dollars. >> we saw pictures of everybody sitting together. what was the scene so far when we work with the parents? >> it is exciting. it is exciting to see parents who relate to children. one we did last week as far as children have changed the childhood is what we have known has really changed. to have a role play between parents and children to see if they whenned fy with their own experiences and realize how much they have in common. we find ways to take ways to

have a commented and abobuild o them in current days and take that into fiscal years. >> i would like them to know they can look us up at www.third baptist.org/freedom school. also on july 26th our students will be showcasing our talent. there is a web page being designed now where by the community will be able to go on with this event there will be a special celebrity guest and also rsvp. that, too, will be free. >> we are out of time i am so sorry. allan and bob ivory thank you so much. we have to take another break. when we come back we are going to meet a neighborhood youth program that offers a wide range of activities also at little or no cost.

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>> welcome back. they do not endayigage in summe learning blues. that's according to the national center for learning. this summer you can find out this summer learning can be fun. >> sergeant dave norris the police activities lead. thank you for being here. for folks who don't know what

pal is let us know. >> the police department employees do what we call neighborhood safety partnerships model of policing that involves striking at the root of criminal activity by engaging with the community and getting involved with the community. we find if the community gets involved they take ownership in what is being involved in the recommunity they can have a partner. they are a big integral part of that. it allows us to leverage one of our greatest assets. san mateo police department's vity's league activity's league own separate 501 c 3 independent nonprofit. it is a collaborative effort between the city of san mateo's parks and recreation department and san mateo police department. >> they have a police activities league? >> not everybody does.

>> whether it comes to residents or residents in the city. what we strive to do is provide a safe and healthy set of alternatives and kids to continue to build a bond between cops and kids because we have a safety in neighborhoods. >> we have great pictures we want to put up. wow that was a lot. >> california state parks allows us to go out and our ninth through 12th grade youth to do atv runs with them. our board members are a big part of that. we have day trips we have for our younger folks the k through 5 and 6 through 8 grade groups and san francisco bay fishing trips are a huge hit with the youth of our community. and that's one of our day trip groups. so we have a lot of activities that are available for all different age groups. we have camping trips and

backpacking trips, and gives us an opportunity to not just give someth also to provide that message about making good choices and good decisions. >> these are amazing pictures. looks like the kids get t-shirts and backpacks as well. >> they are t-shirts and backpacks depending on the activities. we supply all of the equipment that's needed for any of these events and we have officer volunteers who are out there engaging with these youth and we have a lot of our board members who are very actively engaged directly dealing with the youth. >> it looks like the officers don't go out in uniform because they breakdown barriers. >> that's correct. also for he's of use it's hard for an officer to be on a backpacking trip. >> yes it is. >> is there still time to sign up? >> plenty of time to sign up. all of the opportunities ongoing open enrollment through the day before the activity is going on. as long as there's space

available in that activity we are able to enroll the kids. it is a very small fee a $20 annual membership fee to be part of pal an then all of these activities run between 5 and $20 for each of the activities. the assistance programs. >> you have that and a sponsorship they want to sponsor a kid it would be as easy as sending $20. >> go to the web site. san mateo pal.org. donate or be a sponsor if you like all types of information on what types of activities we have available and what you believing sign your ki hat you can sign your kids up for. this is not just residents of san mateo and san mateo county this is for everybody. >> this is probably restricted to kids in san mateo but if other counties are inspired what you are saying are there other police activities they can sign

up for? >> there are. i would advise everyone to check their police department and see if there are aktities available in their area. local sheriff's department all over the area have some of these pal programs. if there's not one and you are close by, we are more than welcome and open to folks from other jurisdictions coming in helping them and working with us. >> the web site once again for folks who want to enroll. >> it is san mateo pal.org. >> we are going to post it on the web site for everybody. sergeant thank you so much for being here. thank you for what you are doing to help the kids and the families. all right. and that is all the time we have. special thank you to all of our guests for joining us today to talk about this pont topic -- important topic. we have all of the information available on web site and abc 7 mmunity affairs on facebook and follow me on twitter@cheryl

abc 7. have a great week. see you next time.