This year’s theme is Power Up! Full STEAM Ahead

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Public Broadcasting will present Summer Learning Family Fun Days beginning at 10:30 a.m. daily June 21-23 online. This virtual event is designed to accelerate learning and stimulate minds of students ages 4-12 who are out of school for summer break. There will be lots of fun activities, daily prizes, storytelling and more.

Parents are encouraged to register for this free virtual event under the Education tab on mpbonline.org. The event will stream daily for about an hour on all MPB and MPB Education social media and digital platforms. Plus, viewers can watch on MPB Classroom TV.

This year’s theme is Power Up! Full STEAM Ahead and focuses on healthy lifestyles.

• June 21 – Horticulturist Felder Rushing offers children fun tips on growing healthy food. Children will go on a virtual fieldtrip to a community garden, and they’ll make scarecrows.
• June 22 – Enjoy a reading adventure with MPB’s Ed Said.
• June 23 – Science fun will be shared by NASA, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and the Mississippi Department of Education. Teaching artist Althea Jerome will offer a music lesson, too.

“It is essential that the minds of our children continue to be stimulated during the summer months. It helps to keep them growing and stretches them in a different way,” said MPB Director of Education Tara Y. Wren, Ph.D.  “Our goal is to provide programs and services that help accelerate each child. We seek to give them enriching adventures and experiences as they learn with their families and friends across the summer.”

Summer Learning activities and lessons were specifically chosen to ensure students and parents have a positive experience participating in the events.

“The content and partners were carefully selected in hopes of sparking the imagination of a child and encouraging them to read and find pleasure in creating something new. We hope that parents and teachers will encourage participation over the three-day virtual event,” Wren said.

Due to the pandemic, this is the second year MPB has held its Summer Learning event virtually. By 2022, MPB hopes to have an in-person event again with thousands of parents and children attending. MPB’s first Summer Learning event was held in 2015.

The event is supported by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

MPB is a state agency that also operates as a PBS and NPR affiliate broadcasting station. For more information visit www.mpbonline.org. Find all MPB press releases here.