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This week’s Beaverton Valley Times features a timely opinion piece highlighting BEF’s partnership with the Beaverton School District to prevent summer slide.

Learn more about this collaborative project…

Heading into summer, much is at stake as Oregon schools prepare for students to return to full-time, in-person learning in the fall. Even before the pandemic, research showed students face a real learning loss over summer break – referred to by teachers as the “summer slide”. Research also tells us that low-income students are at even greater risk of losing math and reading skills. This is in contrast to their more affluent peers who might make slight gains in reading during the summer months.

In 2013, Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) worked with teachers from one Beaverton elementary school who wanted to prevent “summer slide” for their students experiencing barriers to learning. BEF recognized the potential this big idea could have on students across the Beaverton district and funded a pilot program called Camp Achieve. 

“BEF has been an invaluable partner by filling the resource gap, funding year-round programming on behalf of the District’s children, especially those most marginalized,” said  Brian Curl, Raleigh Park Elementary Principal and long-time Camp Achieve Principal and leader.

Data captured since 2013 shows an overwhelming majority of Camp Achieve participants not only didn’t experience summer slide, but some students even improve their reading scores by small, but meaningful, percentages. We won’t know the full scope of pandemic-related educational loss for a while, but we do know our kids can’t afford to slide anymore – summer or otherwise.

Over the past seven years, through private donations and philanthropic grants, including recent support from the Meyer Memorial Trust, BEF and the Beaverton School District have been fine-tuning, improving, and scaling Camp Achieve. New federal funding to support summer learning has many school districts scrambling to create programs from scratch in a matter of a few short weeks, but not Beaverton. In July, Camp Achieve, a proven, pre-existing model, will be rolled out across Beaverton elementary schools.

This is no small feat given the size and diversity of the Beaverton School District, the state’s third largest. The District stretches from Rock Creek to Scholls Heights, from Hazeldale to West Tualatin View, includes 54 schools and almost 40,000 students. As a majority-minority district, 55% are students of color and more than a third of all students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

BEF is proud to support District-wide programs like Camp Achieve, but often our greatest impact is meeting specific needs for a particular school or classroom. From updating the library at Barnes Elementary to include books that more accurately reflect community diversity and feature main characters that look and sound familiar to students of color, to pickleball equipment for Stoller Middle School to help students gain new physical skills and experience fun, positive and healthy social experiences, BEF delivers bottom-up solutions to meet individual needs.

This pandemic has taught us we are prepared to provide timely solutions for problems that were once beyond our imagination. Things will look different in the future, but BEF will continue to match targeted solutions to classroom needs, because Beaverton students and Staff are fortunate to live and work in a community that is committed to helping students reach their highest potential.

Help support the work BEF is doing for Beaverton’s students.

Students in Marcelle Helm’s 5^th grade class were welcomed back to Rock Creek in an unusual space –the gym. Luckily, their adjustment to the unconventional classroom was made easier with a new technology cart, as part of BEF’s unparalleled commitment to Staff during our recent transition to Hybrid studies.

Rock Creek’s tech cart project was a perfect fit for BEF’s crowdsourcing platform, Beaverton’s Choice. With support from Intel (through BEF’s Building STEAM 4 All program) and Rock Creek’s PTC, fundraising surpassed the school’s immediate need for one cart for the gym. Together, using BEF’s collaborative model, we raised enough to purchase four tech carts.

“It all came together so fast,” said, Principal’s Secretary and Office Manager, Jessica Vogel. “A few days after we connected with BEF, our project was live and receiving matching funds.”

Thanks to our connected community and focus on the big picture, BEF was able to help Rock Creek realize their long-term goal of having a technology cart in every classroom. We are honored our work can deliver relevant tools into classrooms, while also alleviating some of the pressure our educators are facing.

“Thanks to BEF’s support, my new space was outfitted with a complete technology cart,” said, Marcelle. “With this technology in place, I can focus on doing what I love, teaching my students.”

Learn more about the other great projects on Beaverton’s Choice today.

Our educators have taught during the pandemic with amazing grace. Through Comprehensive Distance Learning, In-Person Hybrid Instruction, and the mix of both, they have gone above and beyond for our students. 

Recognizing the unique needs associated with Hybrid instruction, the Foundation quickly worked to deliver resources for our schools and began distributing funds immediately following the District’s back-to-school announcement. In just three short weeks BEF funded 73 Staff requests, impacting nearly 9,000 students. Hybrid funding awards doubled the support typically distributed to Staff through BEF’s crowdfunding platform, Beaverton’s Choice. 

Classroom needs were varied, but all offered innovative solutions that were easily addressed with BEF support – like Sunset High School Teacher, Alisa Harvey’s solution to strengthen connections between distance and on-site students.

“Community is the cornerstone of successful learning. We created classroom community during CDL, but transitioning to Hybrid posed new challenges for teaching Zoomies and Roomies simultaneously,” explained Alisa.

She requested a microphone and a video streaming device to give students at home live access to the classroom and allow the entire class to communicate in real time. The technology may be simple, but the results are priceless, providing virtual students a sense of belonging, despite their distance. 

“What makes classroom teaching magical is the opportunity to have natural conversations,” said Alisa. “Now, students can talk freely to each other regardless of their location.”

While much of this spring’s support helped deliver expanded and basic supplies, the First Grade team at Springville asked for funds to add a little excitement to their end of year instruction. They created an End of the Year Countdown with themed days, featuring literature and STEAM activities to review the year’s lessons and further prepare students for the Second Grade. 

Through all the changes in teaching, educators have made our students a priority; BEF has been there every step of the way, finding solutions for Staff and student needs at all of Beaverton’s 54 schools.

You can support the great work BEF and our educators are doing too.

Since 2008 with just nine projects, Building STEAM 4 All has continued to provide support and focus on the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math into Beaverton schools. During the COVID-era, the work through over 700 BEF-funded projects, helped position the current generation of students and educators to meet the demands of virtual and hybrid school. 

“In the course of investigating STEAM topics, students continually need to define, evaluate, and respond to problems they encounter along the way,” said Kinnaman Elementary teacher, Michael Reed. “Once you have encountered a problem, designed a solution, and then brought it into reality, you gain a feeling that anything is possible.”

Additionally, vital hands-on Building STEAM 4 All project requests continued to receive funding to support Beaverton’s educators and respond to student need, during Comprehensive Distance Learning and Hybrid instruction.

Whitford Middle School students can now design, develop, and create their own products for purchase in their student store using a vinyl cutter, 3D printers, and CNC router thanks to BEF support. These tools not only encourage creativity, they also align with middle school technology targets, high school CTE programs, and create valuable career training opportunities for middle schoolers.

In the fall, following a lesson on the history and mathematics of geometric art, Sunset High School students attended a virtual field trip at New York’s MoMath Museum. Thanks to BEF funding, students explored geometric artist Anton Bakker exhibit called “Alternative Perspective” and connected their learning to a real life experience, all without leaving their home.

As we reflect on STEM Week Oregon (May 8 -16) let’s celebrate the transformational impact STEAM education is making in our schools. Visit Beaverton’s Choice to learn more about the latest STEAM-focused projects.