School Libraries, Summer Lunch, Summer Learning

Hunger doesn’t take the summer off and learning shouldn’t either. That’s why over the Fourth of July week Ron visited summer learning sites in Oregon. OregonASK (Oregon Afterschool Network), National Summer Learning Association, and their partners work with local schools to provide lunch and access to books and activities to Oregon kids in the summer. Low-income students more likely to experience the “summer slide” since they often lack the opportunities to keep learning over the summer.

Ron stopped by three of the twenty-six School Libraries, Summer Lunch, Summer Learning sites. The first was Nellie Muir Elementary School in Woodburn where he read to students participating in the program. He also answered their questions including what it means to be a senator and what he does for Oregon.

At Grant School in Salem and Guy Lee Park in Springfield, Senator Wyden helped to serve lunch, read with students and participated in a roundtable of Oregon educators and officials to discuss how to provide more kids with access to Summer Lunch, Summer Learning programs.

During the week Ron also held his annual Curry and Coos County town halls, stopped at Ninkasi Brewing on the way, and marched in one of the best parades in Oregon – the Fourth of July parade in Ashland.

After visiting the summer learning sites, Ron vowed to help efforts like these that make sure no kid goes hungry or experiences learning loss just because school’s out for the summer.