The Literate Self March 2022

 Generating New Content Via Summer Programming

By Lanette Jimerson, Ph.D.

The shift to sunnier and warmer days often leads to educational consultants decreasing their offerings. With schools closed for summer break, there is a belief that gaining participants for summer programming is more challenge than it’s worth. Yet summer programming is a unique opportunity to generate and test new content while earning income. Rather than retreat to the planning room, summer programming allows for high-end, compact courses as learners expect to spend more during the summer learning. Opportunities to have fun and be creative is just what learners are seeking. With the growing opinion that the pandemic is over—or at least requires less restrictive movement—learners, both adult and youth, are going to be eager to engage.

Pairing Expertise with Fun

Learning and work can become monotonous. Summer programming offers a chance to innovate and focus on fun and unusual aspects of your subject. For instance, one year I offered a summer program that engaged food and sports as a way to discuss the global connections between literacy and culture. I had 16 learners who each paid for the opportunity to dance, cook and play. For one activity, they created lemon meringue pie and then discussed the connections to the Latin dance merengue. Learners were exhausted after whipping egg yolks and moving to the fast-paced merengue music. The learning was aligned to literacy standards but engaged interesting topics and bodily movement. There was glee and laughter as learners finally saw the egg yokes peak. 

As a literacy expert It was rejuvenating for me to see participants’ glee and joy as it pushed me to continually consider how I could ensure the activities supported literacy development and maintain the joy of learning. I was able to use learner feedback and reactions to identify which elements of the course yielded higher engagement and then consider which of these elements might be integrated in more traditional learning environments.

Leverage Summer Activities

Summer is synonymous with eating, being outdoors, long conversations, and travel. Leveraging these aspects to engage learners can provide a learning environment aligned to the expectations of the season. Whether your expertise is financial literacy or diversity and inclusion, summer programming can provide learners with a memorable experience. For instance, if you teach financial literacy, leading a challenge wherein learners seek to have the most fun while spending the least amount of money could help learners decrease the money they spend on entertainment. Tips could help learners recognize free events locally and how to plan eating out to maximize the experience and minimize the cost. Experts on diversity and inclusion could lead a four-week festival challenge, encouraging learners to visit festivals that foster greater understanding of other cultures. The learners could have a set of activities to engage in while at the festival such as have a conversation with three people. Each week learners could debrief and make connections to what they learn. As a person who has recently joined friends for religious service at the Mormon church, I have come to learn a lot about the vast difference between how I usually engage religious service and the format of Mormon church services. 

While the two examples above are more appropriate for adult learners, providing content for children and youth is possible and summer activities for youth generally cost more as the free alternative of school is unavailable. The average cost of a one-week, half-day camp for youth ages 5-14 is $300 per participant. A three-hour course with a small group of ten youth can generate $3,000 of income. Courses designed for youth can involve exploring local areas or can occur in one static location. Whether you decide to take youth on an exploration or keep them in one location its important to remember that youth at the upper age, 12-14, are often seeking to feel more independent and knowledgeable, so courses that frame learners as emerging experts are more attractive. Consider offering entrepreneurship courses or social media content creation. Topics that translate to visible positions in society tend to be more popular than one’s that are solely kid-focused.

Re-Light Your Own Flame

Summer is also the season of love. Love for people and ideas. As educational consultants, we can pour out to others and forget to pour into ourselves. Innovative summer programming is a chance to engage our own sense of wonder and take chances. Unlike the traditional learning environment, summer programming is an opportunity to facilitate learning where we too are learning along the way. In the food and sports course mentioned above, I decided to teach the students about cricket. I had no idea how to play cricket, yet I ventured to the Indian community, purchased a cricket bat and ball, watched several videos and read about the varied ways to play. When it was time to actually play the game with learners, I designated one learner to be the rule checker. Together that learner and I laughed our way through understanding whether or not a person had scored a run or was out. 

Not only can you re-light your own flame, courses that prove joyous and lucrative can be offered again in subsequent years. Iterations of the course can build upon the feedback and/or target new learners. For example, a few years ago I learned paper circuitry. I leveraged this learning experience to offer a summer course for learners. That experience led me to craft a session for educators who wanted to consider technology integration and literacy development. I plan to offer this course again this summer, but virtually. The shift to a virtual format will present an opportunity to consider literacy development, distance learning and engagement— a pressing topic in education.

As an expert, we can get caught in the frame of being all-knowing. When we allow ourselves to be a learner while leading, we can see our content through new eyes. Furthermore, when we offer summer programming, we can generate income while creating new content. The idea that one must sit alone and craft content and then generate income is false. Educational consultants can learn, lead, and earn all at the same time.