The Bartlesville Education Promise Board of Directors has announced the approval of 3 new programs for the summer of 2018.
The first is an expansion of the STEM Camp that will be held at Tri-County Tech starting June 4, 2018. This year there will be three camps with the expansion of the number of students that will be able to attend. The first camp will be from June 4-9 for grades 8-9 and will run from 8am to 4pm each day. The second camp will be from June 11-15 from 8am -4pm and will be for grades 4-5. The third camp will run from June 18-22 from 8am-4pm for grades 6-7. Cost for each camper ranges from $195-245, however scholarships are available. Interested students should obtain an application from their school and submit it to their counselor’s office. Camps will vary, but each camp will provide an introduction to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, and will be taught by a qualified teacher and will have the help of business employees from the community who will stress the importance of STEM subjects to various careers. Last year’s camp had room form 184 students, while this year’s camp has been expanded to close to 300 students. The extension of the STEM Camp is possible by many of our corporate and association donors including: The Lowe Foundation, the Bartlesville Community Foundation, the Bartlesville Service League, Phillips66, ConocoPhillips, ABB, Schmoldt’s Family Foundation, Bartlesville Rotary, Bartlesville Kiwanis Club, BOK Foundation, ChrevronPhillips Chemical, Arvest, Parson Foundation, Bartlesville United Way, and the Lyon Foundation.
The second expansion is to intensify our efforts in 3rd grade reading. With the assistance of the Bartlesville Community Foundation we are establishing a Summer Reading Program. Teachers from the Bartlesville School system are being hired to work with partners to encourage young readers to improve their reading skills. Reading teachers will work with summer school participants and afternoon participants at the YMCA, Bartlesville Public Library, and the Boys and Girls Club, and other organizations to encourage students to select a book to read at home. Students will be encouraged to sign a “pledge” to read during their summer months. During the afternoons when the students attend one of the partner locations, teachers will discuss the books with the students, making sure they are completing their reading and helping them to select a grade level reading book. Emphasis will be placed on students in the 1-3 grades, but the program will be open to all students. During the 2017 year, the State established a new reading test, which all 3rd grade students are required to take and pass before graduation to the 4th grade. Due to the large number of students that had trouble with this test, it is obvious additional efforts need to be made for our students to learn to read. To help the 3rd graders, during the 2017-18 school year the BEP provided funds for reading teachers to work with some 140 students after school to improve their reading.
The third new program approved is funds to allow the Boys and Girls Club to hire educational staff to provide up to 3 hours of educational programs for close to 400 students each day. The courses taught under “Project Learn” a Boys and Girls Club program, include math, English, and computing. The Club will also hold an art, and science camp. Faculty for the Project Learn classes will be college level students and the Art and Science Camp will be taught by Bartlesville teachers. These courses will provide an educational supplement to each of the students that participate and will better prepare each student to move to the next grade the following school year.
The Bartlesville Education Promise is committed to improving the graduation rate in our local schools. We have learned tutoring after school helps. We have also learned that summer enrichment programs will make a real difference, not only to provide areas of interest for learning, but to also make sure students don’t regress during the summer. Last year with the after school tutoring in all nine Bartlesville schools, and our summer programs over 2,800 students participated in BEP programs.
All BEP programs are privately funded, and if you have questions about our programs, our website is Bartlesvilleeducationpromise.com. Donations to our programs can be sent to Bartlesville Community Foundation/BEP, P.O. Box 2323, Bartlesville, OK 74005.