At JCPS, Eddleman finds creative and unique ways to use federal and state grant funds to positively impact students. She often looks for ways to impact children that might not otherwise have opportunities. One of the ways she did this was through the Summer Leadership Institute for Teens.

The idea for the program started in the fall of 2020 when JCPS educators realized how much their students were missing by being at home. Their students at that point had spent the entire year virtual learning. They wanted to start some summer programming, as they didn’t know what the situation would be regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, they wanted to have some plans in place.

“We were trying to think of things for our students in grades K through 12, and we, of course, wanted to have an academic focus,” Eddleman said, “but we knew that wasn’t the most important.”

More importantly, they knew they needed to get students back with their peers and focused on a new school year coming out of an entire year of virtual school. “We were planning programming for all grade levels, but when it came time for the older grade levels, we knew they needed something different,” Eddleman said.

Listen to hear more about how JCPS educators created the Summer Leadership Institute for Teens.