July is the time of year when many children head off to summer camp. This experience can be a rite of passage — a place to try new experiences in a nurturing, carefree, and safe environment. While school presents a structured day, camp can offer a more casual learning atmosphere, free of homework and teachers.
With the restriction of COVID over the past several years, the need for the learning experiences of summer camp is more essential than ever. However, not all children have access to summer camp. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “On average, students lose the equivalent of two months of math and reading skills during the summer months. More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities.”
Girlstart Camps Offer Hands-on Learning for Girls Furthest From Opportunity
Summer camps like the ones run by Women’s Foundation of Boston’s grantee partner Girlstart offer children a place to be curious, practice resiliency, and use their voice. Girlstart Summer Camp is a week-long STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program for girls to develop an increased interest in STEM subjects and careers through hands-on, technology-rich, real-world experiences. Girlstart, a national female-led organization, offers free or low-tuition STEM summer camps and out-of-school programs to girls in grades 4-8. Although other nonprofits provide educational programming for girls, STEM curriculum, and free/low-cost enrichment offerings for low-income and at-risk students, Girlstart is unique because they provide all these options.
Girlstart Heroes
With a focus on bringing STEM to life, the theme for Girlstart Summer Camp this year is “Girlstart Heroes.” In this program, campers design a unique superhero logo like Wonder Woman’s, look at the physics behind Simone Biles’ tumbling routine, engineer a far-flying hang glider, explore how both Aquaman and underwater welders’ fight buoyancy, code an LED Tug of War game, and more. The goal is to discover the secrets behind every-day and big-screen heroes.
The Women’s Foundation of Boston recently distributed a three-year, $80,000 grant to Girlstart. This funding will allow the organization to expand in Greater Boston and Gateway Cities with summer camps and after-school STEM programming for 4th-5th grade girls. With the help of WFBoston funding, Girlstart sent 33 girls to summer camp in 2021 and plans to send additional participants this summer.
Girls Can Discover Independence at Camp
What do summer camps like Girlstart offer that children can’t find elsewhere? Summer camp is the perfect backdrop for children to develop the social-emotional intelligence (SEI) skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship development, and responsible decision making. Children who continually expand their social-emotional intelligence have better outcomes in school and everyday life.
According to the Harvard Medical School’s Using Knowledge blog, many camps, like Girlstart, nurture traits like self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making by:
- Requiring children to solve day-to-day problems on their own
- Presenting activities that are new to everyone
- Offering kids the chance to set and accomplish daily goals
- Helping children uncover new skills
- Providing time for reflection
Informal Learning Cultivates Life Skills
The hands-on nature of the camp experience differs from the typical school year. With educational and time constraints, social-emotional skills are not often explicitly taught in school. As a result, summer camps and after-school programs are often the way children expand these skills.
Whether children are interested in STEM, sports, outdoor adventure, nature, gaming, or new cultures, summer camps come in all shapes and sizes. Camps offer kids a safe and enjoyable environment where they can hone social skills, gain confidence, problem solve, and explore. Programs like Girlstart Summer Camp make camp accessible to all.
Campers Share What they Learned
Excited about their experience, the Girlstart participants shared what they learned at Summer Camp:
Expanding Access to Summer Camps
The Women’s Foundation of Boston is proud to support organizations like Girlstart that give more girls access to the learning and skill building opportunities of summer camp. These programs provide girls with the tools they need to set them on a path to success as they grow and mature. To support Girlstart and other mission-driven nonprofit organizations empowering women and girls, donate to the Women’s Foundation of Boston today. The Foundation is an all-volunteer organization, so 100% of your donation directly supports women and girls. Change someone’s life today by Donating Now!
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, was named President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016. She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and Professor of Medicine of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. Dr. Glimcher is a distinguished immunologist, widely renowned for her work in one of the most promising areas of cancer research.
Linda Henry is the CEO of the Boston Globe Media Partners. She is a co-founder of HUBweek, a civic collaboration between the Boston Globe, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MIT that explores the future being built at the intersection of art, science and technology. Linda is also an early-stage impact investor, an Emmy-Award winning television producer with two shows currently airing, and a community activist. She serves as a director of the Red Sox Foundation, is a trustee of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, chair of the Boston Globe Foundation, and chairman of the John W. Henry Family Foundation. In addition, she is a founder of the Boston Public Market, serves on the advisory board of MassChallenge, and is on the board of the Engine at MIT. She earned a BS from Babson College and her MS from MIT.
Bekah Salwasser joined the Red Sox Foundation as the Executive Director in January of 2018. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Brown University and has extensive experience in philanthropy and both professional and semi-professional sports. After four years working as Community Relations Director for the Boston Celtics, Bekah went on to lead Scholar Athletes as its Executive Director, a program that supports public high school athletes with both their athletic and academic achievements. Earlier in her career, Bekah served as a professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and as Executive Director of the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center.
Kimberly Fay Boucher is a business executive who has driven high performance organizations in technology, consumer products and social enterprise/nonprofit industries over the past 25 years. She is currently the Technology Commercialization Business Leader for the CTO at Analog Devices, where she is responsible for driving new technologies from incubation stages to successful businesses. Kim is also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she teaches Disciplined Entrepreneurship in the Martin Trust Center. She holds a BS in Management Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a NCAA Academic All-American Women’s Basketball player and has been inducted into the WPI Hall of Fame.
Ami Kuan Danoff (Co-Founder and CFO) is a private investor and the trustee of a foundation. She is a Harvard Quantum Founder and a member of the Harvard FAS Dean’s Council. Ami earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in Visual and Environmental Studies and holds a dual master’s degree in Applied Economics and International Finance from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. She was a portfolio manager in global equities at Putnam Investments and co-manager of the Putnam International New Opportunities Fund, and also worked as an international equities analyst at Fidelity Investments.
Christina Heenan Suh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and Marketing and a master’s from Columbia University. A former management consultant, her work focused on strategy and implementation projects for Fortune 100 clients. She was also an account executive at Hill+Knowlton (WPP) marketing consumer packaged goods. As an Executive Board Member of the Brookline Education Foundation, which funds professional development in the Brookline Public Schools, Christina led their Grant and Oversight Committees. She currently sits on the board of the Brookline Library Foundation and teaches ESL at Rosie’s Place in Boston.
Christina Gordon (Co-Founder and CEO) holds a dual master’s degree in International Finance and Applied Economics from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and also studied for a joint master’s degree in Women’s Studies and Sociology at Brandeis with a focus on women in the workplace. Christina is a former assistant fund manager and technology industry equity analyst at Wellington Management. She also worked as a stock analyst at Fidelity Investments. She is a trustee of a private foundation, a member of Women Moving Millions and currently sits on the board of Rosie’s Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women in Boston.