I am writing to address some concerns expressed by Lane Hiltunen and Tom Gleason regarding what they erroneously called the “Windham Summer Academy” and “Windham Summer School” in a recent letter to your paper.

The actual name of the program is the Westbrook/Windham Summer Adventure Academy, and this was not a Windham School Department initiative, but rather a 21st Century Community Learning Center program. 21st Century Community Learning Centers exist in about 1,600 communities across the country. Congress has appropriated $991.07 million to be dispersed across the nation for the 2005 Fiscal Year.

The purpose of this initiative is to provide “tutorial services, academic enrichment activities…drug and violence prevention programs, art, music, and recreation programs, counseling, and character education” to enhance academic programming as part of the “No Child Left Behind” initiative. The purposes, funding specifics, and program descriptions may be found at this web site: www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html

A visit to this site will show that our federal tax dollars are paying for teen drop-in centers in Alaska, cultural and social events for youth in Texas, recreational opportunities for students in South Carolina, and similar, valuable programming in every state. Non-profit organizations and school departments who took the time and effort to apply for some of that federal money and to develop programs aligned with the stated purposes were entered into a highly selective and competitive pool of applicants. The Windham and Westbrook School Departments should be commended for making a consolidated effort in securing some of these resources for our own communities!

Our 21st Century Community Learning Center provides after-school programming aimed at improving math and reading skills for failing students, preventing long suspensions and expulsions, offering education for effective parenting, providing enrichment and character education for at-risk students, and a summer adventure academy that provides rigorous academic remediation in reading and math three days per week, using research-based, best practice technology and instructional methods.

In addition, students are required to participate in adventure-based, team-building activities one day each week to develop self confidence, collaborative skills, and the self-reliance that will equip them to become future contributors to our society. (Traditional “summer school” would not have been likely to have been funded through this grant, since innovative, research-based approaches like ours are favored).

Neither local nor state tax dollars were used for these programs, and our federal taxes were already being applied to programs in other states. We are proud to have brought some of that money home.

Sincerely,

Pender Kimball

Supervising Director

21st Century Consolidated Community Learning Center