Firewall partnered with Lauderhill 6-12 STEM-MED Magnet School, where we just finished our first program school year, to launch a brand new summer program on June 11th. Serving over 35 incoming 6th and 7th grade students for 3 weeks, the program consisted of a full day of academic and character-building activities.

In the morning, Firewall Mentors delivered hands-on activities that reinforced important academic skills such as mathematics and Language Arts. They also taught life skills to students using Firewall’s character building curriculum and emphasized the importance of servant leadership as students learned about acts of kindness and how each of them could help transform their communities.

Students learned how to set “SMART” (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goals and created their own PowerPoint presentation on a specific goal they wanted to achieve this coming school year. “While doing my SMART goals, I realized what I want to do in ten years is harder than I thought. This is why I need goals,” said Nyrdgie, an incoming sixth grade student. Additionally, students also engaged in innovative projects with their science teachers pertaining to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).

The summer program not only gave students the opportunity to continue their academic success past the school year, but it also helped provide a smooth transition from elementary to middle school for the incoming sixth grade students. One of the students, Anika, believes she can now enter middle school with more confidence thanks to the program. She said, “I did not know how to solve equations, and I learned it here. It feels so good to go into 6th grade knowing I am better prepared.”

The summer program ended June 30th and we are excited to serve Lauderhill 6-12 students again this August!