Once the sun starts shining in May one thing is clear and that is that summer is coming and school is ending. BUT! Just because school is ending it doesn’t mean that you should fall victim to the dreaded summer slide or slack off on your educational goals. What is the summer slide and how do you avoid it?

The summer slide is the period between school ending and school starting where students lose some of the academic growth that they made during the school year. The best way to avoid falling down the summer slide is by staying active with your learning in any form. There are many opportunities out there to advance and enhance your learning whether through a new job, volunteering, sports, summer school or other online learning.

https://www.weareteachers.com/summer-slide/

One way to avoid the summer slide would be getting a job over the summer. Having a job teaches you valuable skills such as, “money management, time management, organization and communication skills.” https://www.webmd.com/parenting/benefits-of-a-teenager-getting-a-job

Summer jobs also provide students with opportunities to build relationships with local businesses and to showcase their ability to be responsible and to work hard. “I think that the Counseling Center and our Career Center are underutilized resources for students. We have a lot to offer! There are a lot of different programs, Running Start, apprenticeships. Mrs Rodino is connected with all of the local union halls and can set students up with job shadows. There are also skill centers that we can connect students with. There’s all kinds of different things that we can plug students into to help them to keep moving forward on their career pathway or explore what other options are out there.” Mrs. Knutson, Counseling Office. 

Volunteering is another great way to safeguard your learning because you could look for opportunities to volunteer in areas where you are interested. Daycares and preschools are great places to volunteer if you’re interested in working with children. Suppose you are interested in working with animals, animal shelters and animal safe havens are great places to look into for ways to work with animals. Volunteering can also have an impact on more than just you. “Don’t look at it as a job or dread not wanting to go, but look at it as an opportunity to even do the littlest thing to make a huge impact,” Parker Birch (‘26).

Participating in or learning a new sport can also help you have a successful summer. Physical fitness is a great way to stay in shape over the summer as it keeps your body moving and it keeps you active. “I think it’s important to be active not just for physical health but mental health and academic performance are all linked to activity levels so I think you should try to be active all the time.” Mr. Thuet, Arlington High P.E. teacher.

Of course, if you are more interested in traditional ways of learning during the summer, we have summer school right here at AHS! There are two options for summer school either in person, on campus or online classes if you prefer to take your classes from the comfort of your own home. Be sure to check with your counselor before registering for summer school as all classes need to be approved by your counselor first. 

You could also take one or two online classes from places like BYU Independent Study or RedComet.org if you’re looking to further extend your learning. Mrs. Bennett, a counselor at AHS stated, “I know that students are going to have a lot of unstructured time and just free time and that’s great. But I also think it’s probably a good idea to try to each day have like a little bit of time set aside for reading, a little bit of time set aside for getting outside, a little bit of time set aside for exercise so that you’re still having a little bit of structuring your day around the unstructured time have a part-time job or have a part-time internship or something like that.”

Taking advantage of many different learning opportunities during the summer may not sound like fun right now but they have the potential to protect your learning in many different ways and they will definitely help you avoid the summer slide.