With More Money, Camp Could Help More Kids Reach Their Potential

If there’s one thing Marcia Marley wants you to know about the summer enrichment camp she helped start for children from low-income families, it’s this: 

Succeed2gether is turning away kids it could be serving.

“I could expand if we had more money,” Marley said standing outside the camp's facility at First Lutheran Church of Montclair on Park Street Wednesday. "We need funding. We can take a lot more people."

Succeed2gether is now in its fourth year and has about 50 students from Montclair and Newark enrolled in the four-week, Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., summer enrichment program.

In the church parking lot, a group of campers got fresh air and exercise during the physical education segment of their day. Inside, other groups participated in writing, music and dance sessions, after spending the morning working with master teachers on language and math skills.

Campers are divided into three groups: students who have completed third and fourth, fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth grades.

It costs about $700 for a child to attend the camp, which is free to families who qualify based on income. Lunch and snack are also provided.

“This is a way of equalizing the opportunities,” Marley said. “Our goal is to make sure every single child reaches their potential.”

Director Barbara Kaplan said children are tested at the beginning and end of the month. Testing allows instructors to determine each child’s individual needs and their curriculum is designed to meet those needs, Kaplan explained.

Parents of campers are seeing a difference in their children’s school performance.

“Our parents will tell us their child got a B. They never got a B in math before,” Kaplan said.

Program Administrator Rabiye Hamade said the program's success comes from focussing on the whole child.

“We know our kids inside and out,” Hamade said. “We are involved in their present and their future.”

During the school year, Succeed2gether offers after-school tutoring to about 100 children at the Montclair Public Library. In addition, they run anti-violence programs and workshops for parents on resume writing, financial literacy and more from their Bloomfield Avenue headquarters.

More tutors are always needed, Kaplan said, and no special certification is required.

“We just care that you want to work with kids,” she said.

To learn more about Succeed2gether or to make a donation, visit www.bwpif.org.