Why Students Keep Coming Back to Birmingham Summer Institute
Five years is a long time in the life of a student. Six years is even longer.
Taylor Strickland, a seventh grader at Bragg Middle School, has spent five summers at Birmingham Summer Institute. Grace Jackson, an eighth grader at Minor Middle School, has returned for six.
They can tell you about chess, cheer, hip-hop dance, STEM challenges, field trips, live theatre, and friendships that began years ago and are still growing. But the reason they keep coming back runs deeper than any one activity.
Taylor talks about teachers who are patient, encouraging, and committed to helping students succeed. Grace calls BSI a second home—a place filled with learning, laughter, and people who care about her.
That is the real story of Birmingham Summer Institute. Students do not return year after year because BSI gives them something to do during the summer. They return because it gives them a place to belong and grow.
More Than Summer School
“BSI is more than just a summer program—it’s a place where we make lifelong memories, build friendships, and have lots of fun while learning,” Grace said.
Summer programs are sometimes treated as one of two things: academic remediation that feels like an extension of the school year, or recreation with little connection to what students need next.
Here’s what’s at stake in that choice: a long-running study out of Johns Hopkins University found that the reading gap between lower-income and higher-income students grew from about half a school year in first grade to a full three years by the end of fifth grade — and traced most of that growth to what happened each summer, not the school year itself. Left unaddressed, a gap like that compounds year after year.
BSI is built on the belief that students should not have to choose between meaningful learning and a memorable summer. A decade of research on summer learning backs that belief up. In a multi-year study of voluntary summer programs across five U.S. school districts, the RAND Corporation found that students who attended consistently made measurable gains in math and reading, and that the strongest programs shared a few things in common: well-trained staff, real instructional time, and an engaging curriculum built for summer rather than borrowed from the school year.
For six weeks, students strengthen their reading and mathematics skills while exploring new interests, building friendships, and learning from adults who know them well. For the past two summers, BSI has partnered with the National Summer School Initiative to provide engaging math and English language arts instruction designed specifically for summer learning. Before students arrive each year, BSI’s teachers spend an additional week in professional learning and preparation, so instruction is ready to go from day one.
Students complete assessments throughout the program, but the goal is bigger than improving a score. BSI wants students to return to their learning environments feeling prepared, confident, and ready to participate.
Taylor sees that connection clearly.
“At BSI, we also strengthen our skills in math, reading, and STEM,” she explained. “They make learning fun and help us understand the material so we can be successful when we return to school after the summer.”
Students notice the difference. They are not simply reviewing what they already know. They are experiencing what it feels like when a lesson is hard, encouraging, and genuinely fun, all in the same afternoon.
A Summer That Opens New Worlds
The 2026 BSI theme, “To Infinity and Beyond,” gave the summer a shared direction.
Students explored the solar system and black holes during STEAM lessons, then experienced those ideas in a new way during a visit to the Samford University Planetarium, complete with a picnic together afterward. Birmingham Children’s Theatre brought The Jungle Book directly to the program, showing how a familiar story can move from the page to a live stage.
The summer also introduced students to possibilities much closer to home. Marble sculptor Craigger Browne taught them about Alabama geology and helped them carve their own sculptures. More than 20 community volunteers participated in a career fair, giving students a chance to meet people from a wide range of professions.
Students also explored interests such as American Sign Language, Tae Kwon Do, dance, basketball, beekeeping, tennis, music, art, financial planning, and cake decorating. Homewood Theatre led acting workshops throughout the summer, and the Connell School of Writing gave students a place to build their creative writing skills all season long.
The goal was not to fill every hour with another activity. It was to give students chances to notice what sparks something in them.
A child may discover an interest in science while looking up at the planetarium ceiling. Another may begin to see herself as an artist while shaping a piece of marble. Someone else may hear about a career he never knew existed and begin imagining a future that feels a little bigger than it did before.
Cole Walker, BSI’s assistant director this summer, watched that kind of moment happen at the planetarium. “Seeing them ask questions, make connections to what they had learned in class, and genuinely be amazed by the experience reminded me why programs like BSI are so important,” he said.
“Our hope is that each child discovers a new passion or talent that continues long after BSI ends,” said April Coffey, BSI’s director.
Belonging Changes What Students Can Do
Students are more willing to try something difficult when they know a mistake will not change how people see them. That kind of safety does not happen by accident.
BSI keeps a low student-to-teacher ratio so students can feel known, heard, and supported.
“The foundation is simple,” April said. “We hire people who genuinely love students. Children know when they are truly cared for. When students feel safe, valued, and encouraged, they become more willing to take academic risks, build friendships, and grow in confidence.”
Social-emotional learning runs through the entire experience. This summer, students read How Mae Got Moxie by Jennifer Hallman, a story about a young hedgehog who stays true to herself despite pressure from others. They made kindness cards, named one another’s strengths, and ended the unit with a talent show where every student had an opportunity to share their own “moxie.”
BSI also began a “Bigs and Littles” mentoring program, pairing middle school students with elementary students. Younger participants gained another trusted relationship. Older students had the chance to lead, encourage, and become the kind of person a younger student could look up to.
Grace feels that culture in a deeply personal way.
“The teachers and staff truly make BSI feel like a second home because they treat everyone like family,” she said. “They are kind, caring, supportive, and always encourage us to do our very best.”
Grace does not simply feel welcomed at BSI. She feels that she belongs there.
And when students believe they belong, they often begin to see more in themselves.
Returning Is Its Own Kind of Evidence
BSI measures academic progress through reading and math assessments. It also gathers feedback from students, families, staff, and community partners.
But some of the program’s most meaningful results are harder to place on a chart.
Cole watched one of those moments unfold this summer, when a student who had stayed quiet through the first week volunteered to take part in an acting lesson with Homewood Theatre. “At first, they were hesitant,” he said, “but with encouragement from their classmates and teachers, they stepped out of their comfort zone. By the end of the activity, they were smiling, laughing, and confidently performing alongside their peers.”
Growth like that also shows up when families describe changes they have noticed at home, when students arrive eager to begin the day, and when parents ask for next year’s registration information before the current summer has ended.
They also appear in the people who return.
Six of this summer’s 30 students had attended BSI before. Three staff members were once BSI students themselves. Three of the four classroom teachers returned from previous summers, along with two of the program’s four fellows.
Staying interesting for six summers in a row takes intention. BSI’s mission doesn’t change year to year, but the theme, activities, and field trips do, so a student who has been coming since elementary school still finds something new to look forward to each June.
Continuity like that creates something more lasting than a six-week experience. Students grow up inside the program. Elementary students become middle school leaders. Campers become staff members. Young people who were once encouraged by someone else return ready to offer that same encouragement to the next student.
“Returning students naturally become leaders,” Cole said. “They help new students learn the routines, answer questions, and make everyone feel included. Their excitement and confidence are contagious.”
Taylor already knows she wants to come back.
“There are always exciting adventures, new friendships, and amazing opportunities at BSI,” she said. “I can’t wait to come back each summer. BSI has given me memories that will last a lifetime, and I am so thankful to be a part of such an incredible program.”
Six Weeks Can Shape What Comes Next
BSI is designed to make this kind of opportunity accessible to Birmingham families. The full six-week program costs $250 and includes breakfast, lunch, a daily snack, a program shirt, instruction, field trips, and enrichment activities. Scholarships and sibling discounts are also available, while CAMP works year-round to secure grants and partnerships that help keep costs low.
This summer, BSI served 30 students, with about 25 attending each day. That size allows every student to be noticed, encouraged, and given room to contribute.
CAMP’s mission is to equip students with the tools they need to reach the college, university, or career of their choice — and that work doesn’t begin with an application during senior year. It begins much earlier.
It begins when students step onto a college campus and can picture themselves there. It begins when they meet someone working in a career they had never considered. It begins when they solve a difficult problem, perform in front of others, mentor a younger student, or discover a talent no one has noticed yet.
The goal of BSI is not simply to prevent students from losing academic ground during the summer. It is to help them move forward—with stronger skills, wider experiences, meaningful relationships, and a growing belief in what they can become.
April put that hope simply:
“I hope they leave believing that their gifts matter, that their voices matter, and that there are limitless possibilities ahead of them.”
Taylor and Grace show what can happen when students hear that message again and again—not for one day or even one summer, but year after year.
BSI does more than fill six weeks. It gives students time and space to learn who they are, discover what interests them, and see that they have something worth contributing.
And once a student starts to believe that, the possibilities really do get bigger.
Learn More About BSI
Want to know more about Birmingham Summer Institute, including registration details for next summer? Visit BSI’s page on the CAMP website.
With thanks to
This piece includes reflections and quotes from Taylor Strickland and Grace Jackson, BSI students; April Coffey, BSI Director; and Cole Walker, BSI Assistant Director.
Want to Read More?
If you’re curious about the research behind what makes summer learning programs work, the RAND Corporation’s National Summer Learning Project is one of the largest studies ever done on the subject, and the American Federation of Teachers has a readable summary of the Johns Hopkins research on summer’s role in the achievement gap. You can also learn more about BSI’s academic partner for the past two summers at the National Summer School Initiative.
Comments