Already the last day??? Wow! I can’t believe it’s been 9 full weeks since summer camps at the PAST Foundation began.  The administration of pre and post surveys will be no longer! It’s bittersweet.  I’m both excited and haunted by the thought of completing the end of summer data analysis.  We have about 300 surveys to analyze and see how we can improve summer camp programming here at PAST. 

This week has been a bit out of the ordinary.  As I mentioned last week, the research team conducts “Interviews” on the instructors and support staff to get their perspective on how the summer went.  It is important that we are the ones running these sessions as there is no conflict of interest with us.  We are in no positions of power over those being interviewed, so the participants can freely express any joys or grievances they may have without backlash.  I had my first experience with this on Tuesday.  While I didn’t facilitate the discussion, I was a note taker.  I made sure to document what each person said and capture the tone in which they said them too as tone can express more than words sometimes.  It was cool to be a part of this because we heard lots of useful feedback we will be able to share with the entire PAST team.  I hope this leads to even better programming and improvements in how people feel about being a part of PAST.  

Additionally, the PAST program has been hosting Highschool student interns.  Throughout the summer, they’ve been working hard and earning a multitude of certificates in a variety of fields.  On Thursday, the foundation held a graduation for all of the students! While I didn’t interact with them much (as my focus is primarily on elementary and middle school students) I thought it was important that I attend and see what all they had been up to.  This is a side of PAST that I didn’t really get to experience this summer, and I am so shocked by just how much the students accomplished.  I’m glad I got to go and I love seeing the real life impact programs for students have on their lives

I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks have in store!

See you next week,

Danyelle Bumpus