Avoiding the ‘summer slide’

Avoiding the ‘summer slide’ JHS senior service project seeks to aid students Brian Smith Tue, 05/28/2024 - 2:32 pm Allie Robinson wanted to do something to aid Jacksboro Elementary School students to avoid the summer slide. The summer slide is the loss of knowledge from the end of one school year to the start of the next. Robinson, who plans on majoring in psychology when she goes to college in fall 2025, said she wanted to help students with the slide and also ease the mental health issues of many students who suffer from the slide. “One in five students who live below the poverty line struggle with mental health issues,” Robinson said at a Jacksboro ISD board meeting. “With my project, I wanted to help prevent the slide as many of these students don’t have books or educational help or the way of getting it.” Through a community service project earlier this spring, Robinson found that 70% of students suffer from the slide. Robinson said her research found many of those are among the lower socioeconomic status. Robinson’s project is to create backpacks with many things students need during the summer, including books, snacks, hygiene products and puzzles. She also included cookbooks with recipes that students can create with their siblings. After planning her project, she contacted JES Principal Charles Bearden with her idea. She then worked with peers and teachers throughout the district to come up with a donation list on Amazon. They did that as Robinson spent several hours organizing and packing the items. Robinson presented Wednesday, May 22 the backpacks to JES counselor Teresa Howard. Because of donations from the public, Robinson said she gave 35 backpacks to the school instead of the original 30 she had planned. Howard thanked her for the donation and said students that use the backpacks will get a jumpstart next year.