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LUM 5th Quarter – Essential Skills Learned


Summer 2015



Dear Friend,

To succeed in school and life, children 1052428_564390920269127_1965859719_oneed ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months.

For many children, summer is a carefree, happy time when they experience family vacations, trips to museums, parks and libraries. But for others, when school doors close for the summer, educational opportunities cease – along with basic needs such as healthy meals and adequate adult supervision.

These are the children being reached right now through the Lafayette Urban Ministry’s 5th Quarter Summer Learning Retention Program.

Fifth Quarter is a day-long learning retention program that takes place throughout the summer months. Sixty low-income, elementary-aged children are enrolled. We employ fun-learning techniques to boost each child’s proficiency in reading, math, science and social studies. Our goal is that they be better-prepared to return to school in August.


Did you know…

  • All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer.
  • Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, despite the fact that their middle-class peers make slight gains.
  • More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.
  • Low-income parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do.

Each morning of LUM’s Fifth Quarter Program begins with a gathering session, nutritious snacks, and recreational reading.  Then it’s on to our educational pods in math, science and social studies. This year, we have introduced online learning in these subjects to our summer curriculum.


Fifth Quarter isn’t a traditional summer school. Often, our sessions are held in the city parkIMG_2451 or under a tree. The learning is hands-on with plenty of enthusiasm and encouragement offered by LUM’s Fifth Quarter teachers. There are weekly field trips to the library, Purdue, or other locations where the children learn and experience new things.

It will cost LUM $29,000 to offer 5th Quarter for ten weeks this summer. Included in this amount are four teachers, curriculum, online learning fees, program supplies, snacks, and transportation to field trips.


I hope you will consider helping us to cover these costs.

Your tax-deductible gift of $50, $100, $250, $500, or more, will allow LUM to offer this remarkable opportunity to 60 low-income children this summer.

Won’t you join me in supporting LUM’s 5th Quarter Program? There is no better way to prepare an at-risk child for the coming school year or to narrow the achievement gap separating that child from future success.

Place your check in the mail or drop it off in our office today. Or, you may give online, click HERE.



PS – I would love to show you Fifth Quarter in action.  Just email me at jmicon@lumserve.org with a date between now and August 7 that you can stop by at 10:30 a.m. for a visit!

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