Operation Send Students to Summer Camp

For many, summer camp is a rite of passage. It’s a coming-of-age experience filled with nostalgic memories, life lessons, growth opportunities, and connections. For students, it’s an opportunity to make new friends, develop new skills, and uncover new interests. For parents and caregivers, it’s a necessity—summer camp not only fills a childcare gap for those who work outside the home, but it also provides parents and caregivers alike peace of mind and respite after a long school year.

Each June, Atlanta History Center hosts summer camp programs for elementary and middle school students to sharpen their academic skills and guarantee a fun-filled summer break. Our camps facilitate fun and memorable activities that allow students to fully immerse themselves in the camp experience—which allows us to broaden the reach of our mission by connecting the next generation with history and culture.

While Atlanta History Center is proud to offer these valuable and unique learning opportunities each summer, not all interested families can take advantage due to cost. By donating to this year’s GivingTuesday initiative, you can help close the achievement gap by providing more students with access to quality summer learning camps .

Our summer camps cover a variety of themes and aim to enrich and expand upon students’ understanding of the world around them. For up to four weeks, campers play games, participate in team-building activities, and have the chance to explore our 33-acre campus in the heart of Buckhead—including our many exhibitions, archives, gardens, and live animals on the farm!

Elementary campers often “travel” around the world to learn about diverse cultures from countries like Africa and Asia and Indigenous groups in North America; they learn about the history of sports by playing team-building games and practicing good sportsmanship; and they uncover myths and truths about the world and those who have changed it for the better.

Middle school campers hone their writing skills and abilities through exploring historical fiction and solving mysteries. By touring the archives, onsite exhibitions, and historic houses—like the 1928 Swan House mansion—young writers are equipped to create their own fictional worlds and craft alternative endings to existing classic narratives. Campers learn to write historical fiction, create fantastical worlds through imaginative settings, and adopt journalistic skills like capturing the moment in photographs and writing the front-page story—all while exploring the past through games, historical simulations, and more!

Two history camp sessions are offered each week for lower and upper elementary students, while middle school students can enroll in writing camp. All campers are encouraged to participate in morning mindfulness at Smith Farm and Olguita’s Garden, where they are led through meditation and yoga activities to have time to reset and focus on their emotional well-being for the day. Parents, too, can have peace of mind with the option of before and aftercare to accommodate summer work schedules.

Previous slide. Next slide.

The Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network states that low-income students can lose approximately two to three months of reading comprehension and two months of arithmetic skills every summer. Students who do not have the means to attend summer programs may see a significant decrease in reading proficiency, academic skills, and an overall learning loss. Our goal for this year is to help close the achievement gap by providing quality summer learning camps for students in the Atlanta area based on need.

According to a 2021 report from the After School Alliance, higher income children are nearly three times more likely to participate in a structured summer experience than children from lower income families.  By donating to this year’s GivingTuesday initiative, you can help provide more students with the opportunity to continue learning during the summer. Students will gain access to historic sites and experiences, build their confidence, perfect their creative writing skills, and participate in hands-on activities with their peers. Students will be chosen based on need through an application process; to qualify, students must attend Title I schools and receive free or reduced lunch. 

Atlanta History Center is grateful to the Akers Foundation for their landmark gift and early support of this effort to provide more students with the opportunity to participate in our summer camps.