HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It's nearly the best part of the year for many students here in the Sunshine State... Summer break! Yet, while this time is filled with friends and fun, it’s also important for students to keep their minds active.
Hillsborough County parent Amy Armstrong has plans to keep her children actively learning over the summer months.
"I’m trying to find, you know, fun opportunities. There are also learning opportunities, and balance that, and just enjoy family activities outside,” she added.
She’s also connecting with her children’s teachers to get their advice.
"I think it's important now that the school year is over, you get some imps from the teacher on what are my child's strengths? What are their weaknesses? What are your recommendations to help prep them for the next grade level?" Armstrong added.
She does that because she doesn't want her kids to experience the summer slide, which is the loss of academic skills and knowledge during summer break.
Diane Rottensteiner owns Huntington Learning Center, which specializes in tutoring and test prep.
"Yes, they should. Again, you must practice skills to retain skills. So, if you're not doing the academics, then you're not going to be very academic, and you start to slide very quickly," said Rottenstiener.
According to Scholastics, the summer slide can cause students to lose up to 40% of what they learn during the school year. The biggest declines are in math and reading.
They said a tutor or learning program can be helpful during the summer.
If you can’t afford one, education leaders say: keep your normal routine and do math and reading every day. There are even worksheets you can find and print online.
Dr. Jennifer Katzenstein at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital adds visiting the library or making a summer bucket list can be a good place to start. She recommends setting goals with your children.
Katzenstein also recommends maintaining a balance.
“Let's not forget our kids still need a break. They still need to have fun and be kids. I would love every kid to be getting out, doing some activities. Learning how to relax is just as important," said Katzenstein.
Tampa Bay area school districts have summer learning opportunities listed on their websites. Some have worksheets parents can print out and have kids work on at home. Others have Summer Bridge and other programs where students can attend in-person sessions to stay caught up on schoolwork.
And as local programs work to keep kids engaged during the summer months, many teachers will be looking for a job to make ends meet.
But they aren't the only ones. A report showed the unemployment rate in the state is on the rise.
With all that in mind, we spoke to Stephanie Yocum, the president of the Polk County Teacher Association, to learn about the jobs teachers are getting or struggling to get during the summer.
"Well, it's funny, like well, not funny, it's funny- sad that, you know, we've had teachers that have applied to Target or to Walmart, and they never get an interview. Because it seems like most of those types of employers want younger college-age kids or high school kids to work. And so it is harder for our teachers and support staff to find a second job employment if they already don't have one. And so if they're looking for something extra to do over the summer, some of our teachers and support staff do find it hard to find something," said Yocum.
Yocum said teachers often don't make enough money during the school year, so they often work more than one job throughout the school year.
"Our teachers and support staff have second jobs, third jobs, side hustles, all year long. And then a lot of them will extend those second jobs, and they'll pick up more hours in the summer. Teachers will try to get summer school spots that they can, but that's only for June," said Yocum.
Yocum also said there are over 550 educational vacancies for the next school year. We've received hundreds of your comments on our story on creative ways to retain teachers, most of you calling for them to be paid more.
"One job should be enough for our teachers. We should not have to be working two and three jobs, coming to school tired and rundown because our kids don't get the best of us then. And our state has to recognize this, and if our state's not going to, our districts have to by going out for millage," said Yocum.