August 26, 2026
Where Summer Learning Feels Like Camp
Helping young readers gain a grade level, one summer at a time
Summer is almost over! It’s hard to believe but we just wrapped up something we call 'Adventure Camp' where our 1st-3rd graders identified as needing extra support to strengthen their literacy skills spend 6 weeks at our Rockwood campus immersed in fun and engaging activities. For four years now, we’ve been facilitating this summer intensive to help our youngest youth stay ready for school.
Summer learning can be critical for students who are at risk of falling behind because schools don't always have the staff to provide tailored, one on one support.
“The goal is to combat summer learning loss,” said Ciara Wade, chief program officer at Friends of the Children - Portland. “Across the board, we see at least one level of reading improvement for all of our Adventure Camp participants.”
Our Associate Director of School Success, Estefania Perez, has developed this program over the last four years to become something the kids look forward to every summer. Her goal is to make it fun and feel like camp, but with the added benefit of structured learning time with tutors and reading.
We have partnered with Reading Results over the last three years to provide more of that structured learning time and by conducting reading assessments to better understand what support each child needs to come up with a learning plan for the summer.
"Preparing for Summer Adventure Camp takes months, and all that hard work truly feels rewarding when kids who have attended before are excited to come back, and when more kids want to join than I have spots for,” said Estefania. “It makes me feel like we’re really getting that balance of fun and learning right, and that Summer Adventure Camp has become something kids genuinely look forward to.”
In addition to tutoring to boost literacy, kids also get to do things like learn how to make rockets, make their own ukeleles, help in the garden, and play games in the gym. A favorite activity among kids and staff is reading to Mojo, a certified therapy dog. Reading stories to Mojo is a great way for kids to practice reading aloud in a safe, low-pressure environment, and also get the benefit of the calming energy of an animal.
Linda, Mojo's handler, is a former teacher who started working with Friends of the Children – Portland about 6 years ago. She had always enjoyed working with children, and it seemed like a natural fit when she was invited to come do the 'Read to the Dog' program with her first therapy dog, Lulu.
Since then, Linda and her new therapy dog, Mojo, have been coming after school and to our summer Adventure Camp. Mojo and Linda are a certified team through Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and she says that Mojo is the calmest dog she has ever worked with, and perfect to work with kids.
Linda shares why she loves partnering with Friends of the Children – Portland:
"What keeps me going is how appreciative people are for our visits. Another incentive is what I call ‘miracle moments’ like when a little girl talked for the first time in 3 weeks after petting my dog. Her parents said they had tried everything and nothing had worked until our visit."
"This is my give-back. I’ve decided it is a perfect retirement gig for me!"
Even though summer has come to an end, we have so much to look forward to during the upcoming school year!