Kramer Elementary students learn to love reading at summer Lit Camp

It’s a summer morning at Arthur Kramer Elementary School, and more than 30 kids have their noses pressed close to colorful books as they read out loud.

Ask the students if they like to read, and every hand will shoot up. The students are part of Kramer Elementary’s Lit Camp, which aims to reduce the loss of learning that sometimes happens over the summer. Caitlin Mehra, the school’s reading coach, and Natalie Sharp and Christina Ruiz, teachers at Kramer, lead the camp through engaging, exciting reading activities.

“The camp is very intentional and targeted to improve these students’ reading skills, but it’s also a whole lot of fun,” Mehra said. “The students have come incredibly far over this camp. It’s been amazing to see.”

Mehra invited first-graders and second-graders that had struggled with reading the previous school year to the camp. The half-day camp is free for the students, with breakfast, lunch and transportation provided. The camp was held for one week each in June, July and August.

The Lit Camp curriculum is from Lit World, a non-profit that helps improve literacy worldwide. Mehra also created a curriculum for the Spanish speakers in the camp.

In addition to making notable progress in reading, Mehra has watched the students’ confidence and social skills increase over the camp. She is excited to potentially expand the camp next summer.

“This Lit Camp has really set the students up for success once school starts later this month,” Mehra said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we can serve more students, and make this even more successful, in the future.”