As temperatures rise across the city, so does the “summer melt” problem affecting incoming college freshman. Summer melt occurs when graduated high school students intending to enroll in college for the fall fail to complete essential enrollment information– delaying or even forfeiting their college acceptance. Across the country, 10–40% of high school graduates, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, neglect to fully enroll in college.
KidsTek combats summer melt by offering programs for high schoolers and recent grads during the summer months. In June, we held the “Swiftie.U” tech career camp, hosted by Swiftpage, in downtown Denver. College and career options were discussed during the camp, and some of the students even earned college scholarship money through their participation.
We’ve just started our 6th year in the Aurora Youth 4 Success (AY4S) program, held for three weeks each July. AY4S is a career exploration camp for teens offering tracks including culinary, automotive, 3D printing, and KidsTek. The KidsTek track explores both career and college options, and offers high school students a mid-summer chance to review their future plans before heading back to school in the fall. Students attending the AY4S KidsTek program also have the chance to earn a laptop through their participation, potentially helping them in both their education and college application process.
KidsTek also has a Alumni page on Facebook to update our former students on upcoming events, scholarships, job opportunities, student achievements, and enrollment information. Since KidsTek partners with many schools, non-profits, and colleges, we have access to beneficial student information, which we post regularly. Students can also message us through the page if they have any questions or need help with college paperwork.
