Assessing the Quality of Possibility Summer

An analysis using theories and research from the field of afterschool and summer
programs

Afterschool and summer programs succeed through the functioning and

aptitude of community engagement, the centrality of values, and assurance of
quality. In achieving such, programs must develop, implement, and improve
functioning by establishing a forward objective of quality through program guides,
assessments, and suggestions provided by professional scholars in the field.
Proposed in the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science,
afterschool and summer programs may achieve quantifiable quality through the
presence of challenging and engaging activities, supportive adult staff and peers,
and opportunities for choice and voice in activities (Vandell, Larson, Mahoney,
Watts, 2015). However, far more theories and practices have been developed in
hopes of improving the quality of these programs and enriching the lives of youth
everywhere.
Students of Possibility Summer, a summer program located in Garden Grove,
California, participate and experience a program enriched with culture, academics,
community engagement, and much more. Much of the success of the program
results from its particularly small enrollment, encouraging families from all sorts of
backgrounds and communities to engage. Students are provided with a seemingly
one on one experience with formally educated staff and mentors, participating in
classes ranging from five students to twenty students. In issuing institutional
practices and beliefs, Possibility Summer successfully integrates students of mostly
Christian background due to the programs private Christian school origins. With this,
a culture is born of Christian families of many ethnicities, establishing a fund of
knowledge, tools, norms, and ways of thinking, which in then enriches student life
and expands horizons, aligning well with the Factors that Influence Participation,
Safe and Supportive Environment Model, and the Learning in Afterschool and
Summer Principles, plus more. (Vandell, Larson, Mahoney, and Watts, 2015).
The Stage-Environment Fit Theory suggests, the attraction of youth from
different race/ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, range of abilities, age,
developmental level, and genders provides an enrichment of quality in afterschool
and summer programs (Mahoney, 2011). With the petite program size, nearly all or
most of the students in attendance of Possibility Summer also attend its yearly
educational institutions, Trinity Christian Schools, in which students from Korea,
Vietnam, Russia, Romania, and New Zealand attend through the International Study
Program at the school. With this, students of Possibility Summer are well acquainted
with cultures, ethnicities, values, and religions, which in turn filter into the summer
program (Simpkins, Delgado, Price, Quach, and Starbuck, 2013). Research and
evaluation aided in the development of culturally enriching activities at the
program, including weekly cultural cooking classes where students engage in
cooking lessons provided by international school members, preparing food from
many different cultures. The minimal enrollment, allows for comfortability and

understanding of students when confronted with unorthodox, taboo, or unfamiliar

practices.
The safe and supportive environment of the petite program, issues a sense of
belonging for all staff and students, stemming from the presence of
intersectionality, interpersonal relationships, and commonality among individuals.
The microsystem or the pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relations
experienced by the developing person in a given face-to-face setting with particular
physical and material features, of students is seemingly consistent due to the high
return rate of students each year (Vandell, Larson, Mahoney, and Watts, 2015).
Many students in attendance have attended the program since kindergarten and
return up until eighth grade, resulting in a familiarity and comfortability between
staff and students alike. With this, students feel free to engage openly and
collaborate productively, advancing the social skills tremendously. The Bioecological
Theory developed by Bronfenbrenner (1986), argues for the attentiveness of
proximal processes that occur within organized activities, including the
experiences of youth with materials and resources provided, as well as the quality
of social interactions between youth and staff (Vandell, Larson, Mahoney, and Watts,
2015). When doing so, it is apparent, the quality embedded in the program through
the multicultural, well experienced, and overall diversity of individuals in
attendance.
Central to the success of the program, is the presence of mature
collaboration, assessed through the Learning in Afterschool and Summer Principles.
The staff and students level of comfortability and sense of safety allows for a
seemingly easy adherence to quality collaboration standards. With the program size
reaching about ten students on an average day, groups of five to ten continuously
engage with one another, practicing group skills, exploring new information,
supporting one another, and resolving internal conflicts (LIAS). Additionally, due to
the institutions art school status, all students in attendance of the summer program,
acquire some sort of formally educated talent, in which they easily contribute in
collaborative settings and find pleasure in assisting other group members in
acquiring such skills. Staff members, also possess artistic talents including dance,
visual arts, drama, and music. These skills are therefore easily attainable by
students who wish to participate, often given the opportunity for mastery of skills
and talents additional to standard educational curriculum.
In addition to the immense collaboration present at the highly comfortable
summer program, students engage in both highly structured and loosely structured
academics, games, and extracurricular activities. In order to understand the
development and practicing of organized activities, one must first consider the
interpersonal relations, including the interactions between staff and students
(Vandell and Posner, 1999). It is certain that the petite class size at Possibility
Summer insures the productivity of organized activities, having particular physical
and material features and resources (Vandell and Posner, 1999). Trayes, Harre, and
Overall (2012), found through intensive sampling, that students report increased
enthusiasm, excitement, and togetherness when working toward a final goal or
product, furthermore increasing interests in the program activities (Vandell, Larson,

Mahoney, and Watts, 2015). The minimal student body of summer 2016 gave youth
the opportunity to participate in the production of a fictional childrens book,
including short stories and illustrations produced by the students and one staff
member. When observing the production of this task, students demonstrated
outward excitement, interests, and determination, fueling the quality of the
programs academic contributions. Students as young as five years old participated
in the brainstorming and illustrating of the book, forming their own character plots,
development, struggles, and resolutions. All students were provided with language
arts lessons far above their grade level, furthering their skill acquisition and mastery
(LIAS).
Furthermore, the organized activities succeed in conjunction with
autonomous activities, where students have the agency to choose what they spend
their time doing. With this, students are given responsibility and enhanced intrinsic
motivation, for they must develop a goal for the activity of their choice and often
find joy in achieving such. Activities chosen, such as Lego building challenges and
Minecraft Engineering, are skill building activities that enhance creativity,
leadership, and altruism, through the development of a temporal arc or the effort
directed toward a goal, an arc that might include setbacks, re-evaluations, and
adjustment of strategies (Larson, 2000). When such students fall short of their goal
or are unsuccessful in the activity, they must adjust their strategy and increase
creative ideas for success and when working with others, must collaborate or take
on leadership roles for advancement. Towards a Psychology of Positive Youth
Development, states, formation of relationships with group members and adult
leaders furnishes adolescents with valuable social capital, which in turns facilitates
continued participation and advancement (Larson, 2000).
In conclusion, research, assessments, and theories, aid in the enhancement
of quality in after school and summer programs. Through such research, Possibility
Summer has developed a high functioning and quality program, adhering to the
theories of Safe and Supportive Environment, Learning in Afterschool and Summer
Principles, Fostering Initiative, the Stage-Environment Fit Theory, and Factors that
Influence Participation. The low enrollment status of the program results in a highly
comfortable and safe environment, strengthening the programs quality and
adherence to community, student, and staff qualities and structures. Collaboration,
organized activities, and youth agency reign supreme in the program and therefore
lend to the cultivation of a high quality program. Overall, Possibility Summer
provides an academically and artistically strong program, compelled by a staff and
student body that ranges drastically in values, interests, abilities, and ethnicities.

Resources

Eccles, J., & Gootman, J. A. (Eds.). (2002). Community programs to promote youth
development. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

Larson, R. W. (2000). Towards a psychology of positive youth development.

American Psychologist, 55,170-183. Retrieved from: http://www.yclc.ca/PDF
%20files/toward%20a%20positive.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Learning in Afterschool and Summer, Preparing Youth for the 21 st Century. (2016).
Temescalassoc.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016, from
http://www.temescalassoc.com/db/lias/
Mahoney, J. L. (2011). Adolescent summer care arrangements and risk for obesity
the following school year. Journal of Adolescence, 34(4), 737749. Retrieved from:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010341/pdf/nihms234468.pdf (Links
to an external site.)
Simpkins, S. D., Delgado, M. Y., Price, C. D., Quach, A., & Starbuck, E. (2013).
Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, culture, and immigration: Examining the potential
mechanisms underlying Mexican-origin adolescents' organized activity participation.
Developmental psychology, 49(4), 706.
Vandell, D. L., Larson, R., Mahoney, J., & Watts, T. (2015). Organized activities. In R.
Lerner (Series Ed.) and M. H. Bornstein & T. Leventhal (Volume Eds.), Handbook of
child psychology and developmental science (7th ed.): Vol. 4. Ecological settings
and processes in developmental systems. New York: Wiley Interscience.