Horizons Atlanta’s carnival gives students a break from summer academics
Horizons Atlanta presented a summer carnival in Sandy Springs with its nonprofit partner, Created Connected Communities, on June 17 designed to offer students a break from studies.
“At Horizons Atlanta, we have had a carnival for almost 10 years in partnership with Creating Connected Communities,” Ann Marie Bedtke, executive director of Horizons Atlanta, told Rough Draft Atlanta. “The real objective behind the carnival is to ensure that our scholars have some time of just joy and fun outside of the academics and learning throughout the summer.”
A grant from Created Connected Communities provides funding for transportation to the carnival and helped fund the activities. Academics aren’t forgotten, as the carnival included STEM activities, and cognitive games in addition to physical challenges.
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More than 600 of the 1,200 students in the Horizons Atlanta summer program participated in the carnival. It gave them a break from the summer program, which focuses on reading, math, and STEM, with swimming lessons another key component. Student participants have gained eight to 12 weeks in literacy and math progress during the summer, according to Bedtke.
Horizons Atlanta data shows this kind of enrichment paired with academics results in improve scores and the students’ ability to absorb information more deeply.
Rio Tomosunas, a teen volunteer with Horizons Atlanta at its Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School site, said she got connected to the program with many of her friends through an older student.
Tomosunas is interested in early childhood education and children’s health care. The Horizons Atlanta program and its carnival helped her develop a passion for working with children.
“This became so much more, and that’s why I haven’t been just doing the one week. I’ve been signing up for multiple weeks, because it’s something that I genuinely enjoy doing and I have a passion for,” Tomosunas said.
She has helped many children who are growing up in homes where English is not the first language, seeing how they work through their world and giving them a hand in making their way in it.
Student participants came from Horizons Atlanta program sites at Purpose Built Schools, Atlanta Technical College, Clark Atlanta University, Woodard Academy, The Temple, The Galloway School, Atlanta International School, and Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.
Horizons Atlanta is a tuition-free summer learning and year-round program that supports metro-Atlanta and Athens students from Title 1 schools throughout their K–12 academic careers.
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