During the summer of 2016, the Hudson Scholars program launched its first 2 week summer enrichment program. One year later, the Hudson Scholars program continues to succeed in building a connection between the Tarrytown and Hackley School community by hosting its second summer enrichment program.

This summer from July 10th to August 4th, thirty-two Hackley students volunteered with the Hudson Scholars program to provide an educational experience for a handful of rising 6th graders from Washington Irving Intermediate School, the public middle school. In its second year, the program accepted a new group of rising 6th graders and extended the summer camp from two to four weeks.

The group of middle schoolers attended English, Drama, Art, Community Studies, Math, Physics, and Leadership classes throughout the four weeks. The classes were targeted towards fostering a love for learning amongst the scholars through engaging classes and interactive mentors. Hackley School mentors ranged from freshman to alumni, who acted as teaching assistants during the classes and fostered a relationship with each scholar.

Mentor and junior Ella Zaslow said, “I really liked that the program is structured so that there is a good balance between academic intensity and fun opportunities to bond with the mentors in games and team building activities.”

Sophomore mentor Ben Marra added, “Each day they impressed me with their intelligence and thoughtfulness…My favorite part of the program is having older kids who are kind to them and want to help them learn, which means so much to [the scholars].”

Another change in addition to the length of the program is the weekly scheduled activity day that varied from field trips to themed days. The scholars and mentors visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and participated in a day dedicated to coding and computer programming. Additionally, on the last day of the camp, the scholars, mentors, and teachers camped on Akin Common for the night, a Hudson Scholars tradition since last year.

Overall, the month of July on Hackley campus was buzzing with laughter and excitement from both scholars and mentors and provided an amazing connection between the Hackley and Sleepy Hollow community. Regarding the upcoming summer, Program Director and Hackley teacher, David Sykes, hopes to expand the number of students in the summer program.

Junior Mirabel Mallet says, “Having two groups of kids sounds like a great idea because they can have a group of friends from different grades that will support them in middle school and through high school.”

In addition to the summer program, the mentors can stay in touch with the middle schoolers through the Hudson Scholars club at school which is run by Mr. Sykes and club president Amy Chalan. Throughout the school year, the club provides a way for the scholars and mentors to stay connected by hosting monthly reunions and weekly homework help sessions in Tarrytown.

When asked if she recommends joining the program to incoming freshman, Mirabel said, “100%, because it’s not only a great thing for the kids, but you build relationships with the kids. Not only do they learn from you, but you learn a lot from their creative and youthful personalities.”