Summertime in Michigan is the perfect opportunity to refresh and relax. Whether you are headed north to the Upper Peninsula, east to attend a baseball game in Detroit, or staying here in Niles and enjoying the local festivities, this summer vacation is sure to be a memorable one for school and community families.

At Niles Community Schools, we want to ensure students are receiving the best possible education, and it is important to provide students with opportunities to learn throughout the summer. While children are enjoying fun summer activities, they are likely to experience a loss of academic skills and knowledge as a result of lack of engagement. To help our students continue to grow their minds, Niles Community Schools offers a variety of engaging activities, camps, and programming.

Through the district’s continued partnership with the YMCA, the Summer My Way camp is open to all kindergarten through fifth grade students and will run for six weeks from June to August. Children will participate in core curriculum tracks with math, science, English and social studies embedded in the morning fun activities. The afternoon will consist of special activities that use creativity and physical activity to engage students.

We are also offering a new program designed to introduce younger students to a variety of career opportunities. Exploring these choices at a young age is crucial in promoting a diverse mindset and workforce. Our new exploratory CTE Camp will run from July 15 to 19 and will teach middle school students technical, academic and general employment skills. In addition, the district is offering a new STEM Camp to middle school girls from July 22 to 26. The camp will focus on unveiling the current career options in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to middle school girls by working alongside female professionals. We look forward to seeing the impact these new exploratory camps have on students to come.

Expanding on last summer’s pop-up library program, NCS is thrilled to offer 13 pop-up events this summer through our partnership with the Meet Up and Eat Up program, Chartwells and the United Way of Southwest Michigan. The pop-ups will take place from June to August, and students will be able to take home a book of their choice for free. Please visit nilesschools.org for pop-up library dates, times, and locations. To promote reading at home, we also provided every pre-school and elementary student a summer reading take-home pack. The pack included engaging books, specific to each student’s reading level, to help families make the most of summer reading opportunities.

Families play an important role in building and maintaining their child’s education. It is our responsibility as a community to connect families with resources available to help children gain the necessary skills to flourish in school. Please join us for a summer of fun and learning.

Dr. Dan Applegate is the superintendent of Niles Community Schools.