For more than 120 years, Concord Neighborhood Center has been a cornerstone of the south side Indianapolis community. Through social services and educational, recreational and cultural enrichment opportunities, lt touches the lives of approximately 4,000 people each year. The Summer Day Camp offers students ages 5-13 an array of activities that involve education, health & fitness, art, music, and the enhancement of social skills. Its overall goal is to provide an engaging environment that accelerates achievement during the months when learning losses most frequently occur.

Middle school students in this year’s IWC poetry project explored their world while learning about what makes a good poem: specific details that appeal to the senses, imaginative comparisons, and language that takes delight In how it’s expressed through sound and rhythm. At each session, students contributed lines to a collaborative free verse poem and then wrote their own individual piece. Volunteer Patricia Cupp and interns Michael Baumann, Jessica Tatum, and Vienna Wagner served as important mentors during the writing process, giving encouragement and asking questions that directed students toward specificity and careful word choice.