REMARKS
Council Member Stevens delivers opening remarks on Summer Rising program
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3 min
Council Member Althea V. Stevens opens the hearing on the Summer Rising program, highlighting its importance for working parents and child development. She addresses concerns about low attendance and program quality, emphasizing the need for better collaboration between DOE and DYCD. Stevens calls for improvements to make the program more engaging and educational for children.
- Stresses the importance of blending academic instruction with enrichment activities
- Expresses concern over rigid scheduling and suggests more flexible, exploratory learning opportunities
- Emphasizes the need for effective communication between agencies and community-based organizations
Althea V. Stevens
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Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing us from Verizon.
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I'm council member of the Stevens Sheriff Children of Youth Services.
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I've been joined by my esteemed colleague, counselor, Rita Joseph, chair of Education.
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For countless workless working parents in New York City summarizing, often the most accessible and affordable option, to keep young people engaged during the summer.
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And not only just assessable and affordable, but we all know that summer camp is an educational supplement.
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And the program blends both DOE academic instructions and NYC enrichment and both essential components for child development.
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However, recent reports show of low attendance, rises concerns over the old world quality and effectiveness of program, and also lack of evaluation to see if we are reaching the goals that we're trying to achieve.
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To address the issues, a strong partnership between DOE and NYPD is absolutely necessary.
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Effective communication and collaboration between those agencies and community based organizations that deliver those services are prominent for its success.
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But we still continue to fall short.
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Today, hearing aims to explore ways to enhance this collaboration and strengthen the program.
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Because summarizing isn't the only time that these programs working together.
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They work together all year long.
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We must continue to look and evaluate to ensure that the collaboration is working and is effective and is equal.
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Specifically, I'm interested in here that DI the here about DI Cities and DOE strategy sits tackle low attendance and to improve program quality.
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Today, I hope that we can discuss new approaches to ensure that every child in the program receives a meaningful and enriching experience.
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I believe that the right that with the right improvements, summarizing has potential to be an exemplary program that parents not only can depend on, but actively seek for their children's well-being.
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So everyone knows I visit summer camps all summer long because not only do I miss it, but I think that it's a necessity.
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And too often, I hear parents saying that they would want their kids to explore and have more fun.
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And I think even when we're saying fun, it doesn't mean it doesn't need to be educational.
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And the instruction piece, I think, is necessary, but I think that we need to explore what does that really look like.
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Because from the parents that I spoke so consistently, I heard that their children did not want to sit in class all summer.
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And as running a summer camp, I saw how you could bridge and infuse education at all the things that young people do, and we need to figure out how that is, and we should not just have a rigid schedule that says, you can only do this from this time to that.
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We have a city that our kids could explore and learn from, and that's the direction we need to move in and not just say that from 8 to 12, you need to sit in a classroom and from 3 to 5 is when you should explore the city.
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That is not how children learn, and that's not the direction we should be moving in.
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And we need to move into that direction that makes the most sense for all kids across the city.
Mercedes Narcisse
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I would like to
Althea V. Stevens
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thank my committee counsel, Christina, for her hard work preparing for this hearing.
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And as always the 18th back into 6 16th.
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With that, I will turn it back to chair Joseph.
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And I would like to acknowledge counselor and believe us who is joining us.
