Empowering Young Minds

During the school year, students ages 7 through 18 develop their vocal talents through rehearsals and concerts, along with their math skills through small groups and individualized instruction.

Held on campus, the Summer Learning Program aims to decrease summer learning loss, build academic and social skills, and, most importantly, give children a summer to remember. On an average day, students transition from large-group choir practices to math lessons in small groups to one-on-one reading instruction with local adult volunteers. In addition to music, reading, and math, the summer program immerses children in science, art, swimming lessons, cooking, photography, field trips, and more.

But it is the program’s particular emphasis on summer learning that makes it stand out. Older students have the opportunity to choose elective courses, such as a photography course that was renamed this year in honor of John Wehmiller ’66, who also participated in several of the classes with students this summer.

The Class of 1966 provides ongoing support for the Science for Kids program. This summer, the program was renamed after Liz Vallen, the Howard A. Schneiderman ’48 Professor of Biology, who died in April. Vallen was dedicated to the program and served as its science advisor.

The CCC’s inclusion of math instruction began in 2018 after several students asked for help with their homework. In that way, says John Alston H’15, who created the CCC in 1994, the program has always been about meeting the specific needs of families in the Chester community. Most children who live in Chester are at least two grades behind in math, Alston says. One-third of children in Chester live in poverty, and only 3% of eighth graders in Chester perform math at or above grade level.

Alston created the CCC because he wanted to help Chester children get educated in ways they might not encounter in their schools, he says. Many students who come to the summer program are also learning about classical music for the first time, says Alston. The goal, he says, is about expanding their musical knowledge so they can be as fluent in classical music as they are in any genre of music. Acknowledging the equal beauty of all styles is important, he says.

Students including Cyneathia Rice (above with glasses) can choose elective courses, such as a photography course that was renamed this year in honor of John Wehmiller ’66 (above), who participated in several of the classes with students this summer.

“I want our children to be comfortable singing classical music, but I never say that Mozart is better than Whitney Houston or Stevie Wonder,” says Alston, a former associate professor at Swarthmore.

Alston refers to this as cultural fluency, a skill he says will be essential to students entering the workforce.

“When they leave here, they’re often going to be one of few or the only Black or brown person in a room,” he says. “What I dream about for our children is that they develop a kind of fluency that will allow them to flourish outside Chester, but still be able to come home and be true to themselves.”

The program, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary, has seen great success with its students.

One alumna, Skyy Brooks (the older sister of Aiya Brooks), who spent 10 years singing with the Chester Children’s Chorus and attending its summer program, now attends Harvard University and Berklee College of Music. She is studying African American studies and contemporary vocal performance. Several other CCC alumni have gone on to major in a wide range of subjects including biology, accounting, physics, and engineering at Villanova, Swarthmore, West Chester, Neumann, and Lincoln.

The CCC’s Arboretum and Science for Kids classes are in partnership with Swarthmore’s Scott Arboretum and College faculty and staff. Top: Tyreek Dorsey holds his drawing of the Life Cycle of a Plant. Bottom, from left: Ayden Browne, TyLiib Miles, Eli Byrd, and Jayden Berry are excited to present their work at the Science for Kids Poster Session.

“Our absolute goal is to become the program that allows our children to fulfill their potential, whatever that is,” he says.

Another hallmark of the CCC is that it inspires and welcomes former students to return as program assistants to the Summer Learning Program. Student program assistants are among the more than 50 temporary staff members, including K-12 teachers, Swarthmore faculty, staff, and students hired to run the program each summer.

“Being able to say that I helped a young student grasp a new topic is a big success for me,” says Madden, who has taken part in the program since third grade and was recently accepted to Villanova on the pre-med track. “It’s fascinating because I was in their shoes 10 years ago.”

VJ Robinson, 21, says he returned as a program assistant because he “wanted to give kids the same experience I had.” Returning to the program, now on the instructors’ side, the program assistants quickly realize that managing hundreds of students is anything but easy.

“Trying to get a big group of kids to stay focused and engaged in what we’re doing is a challenge,” says Alayna Guy, 19. Managing to overcome those challenges made Taylor-Monet Brice decide to work with children. Brice, who attends Lincoln as a health science major with a minor in psychology, recalls a breakthrough she had with a student during her second summer as a program assistant. Despite having challenges with participating in structured activities, the student eventually had his best day when Brice asked him to behave well while she was absent from camp.

“Helping them get used to the routine and building a genuine relationship with them makes all the difference,” says Brice, who graduated from the CCC in 2021 and is in her third year as a program assistant.

“The program made me realize that my calling is working with kids,” she says. “Every summer I come back, I feel more connected with them, and they are more comfortable with me. That’s the best part.”