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Santa Barbara, CA, June 17, 2024 – Over 500 children are back on campus this summer for United Way of Santa Barbara County’s 2024 Fun in the Sun summer learning program. The program kicked off Monday, June 17th at six campuses from Guadalupe to Carpinteria, celebrating over 27 years of providing families with its national award-winning summer program that offers daily literacy and math practice, hands-on STEAM and enrichment activities, field trips, outdoor play and activities, and more. The free, full-day program has become an important community resource for families throughout the county who may struggle to find accessible and enriching learning programs for students to keep up key literacy and social enrichment skills over the summer months.
“We depend on our partners to help us move the learning of students forward,” said Diana Rigby, Superintendent at Carpinteria Unified School District. “Come fall, it is very clear which students have participated in Fun in the Sun, because those students are prepared to enter the next grade level with strong academic skills as well as really good social skills to be able to interact with their peers in appropriate ways in the classroom.”
Since 1997, Fun in the Sun has provided thousands of Santa Barbara County students with an engaging and enriching learning environment for six weeks every summer, earning an award in 2012 from the National Summer Learning Association in recognition of its consistent achievement of academic outcomes for participants. The program operates countywide, and provides individualized literacy and math instruction, daily meals and snacks, community field trips, hands on STEAM activities, swimming and biking lessons, social-emotional learning curriculum, and more. The program also includes parent workshops and a Leaders-in-Training track for high-school students, offering leadership development, mentorship opportunities, and college and career exploration and campus visits.
“This is a special year for these students,” said Frances Contreras, Director of Programs and Partnerships at United Way. “The expansion happening this year represents decades of dedicated partners that have united through this program with a shared and inspiring focus on the next generation of our community.”
In recent years, the program has also grown into an important community partner hub, welcoming United Way’s network of service agency and nonprofit partner organizations on campus to serve students and their families. Agencies like the Assistance League of Santa Barbara, Hospice of Santa Barbara, and Family Service Agency work together alongside United Way to connect these families with the resources they need to build a stronger foundation for the students at home.
At the request of local school districts, United Way expanded the 2024 program to serve new grade levels (Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st grade) in addition to its existing demographic of 2rd-6th grade students. In addition to the new grade levels at the partnering districts, United Way has also contracted to provide service for additional hours, adapting the program to better serve working families and caregivers.
The majority of the expansion, which will increase the program’s service capacity by nearly 100 additional students, will take place at the program’s campuses in Carpinteria and Guadalupe. Carpinteria Unified School District and Guadalupe Union School District are both working with United Way to integrate the organization’s full suite of district companion programs, including the Fun in the Sun summer learning program, the United Learning Center tutoring program, and the Bridge the Break program, which provides free one-week Spring and Winter break programming to families within the partnering school district.
“We cannot do this alone,” said Rigby. “On behalf of our students and families, we would like to thank all the supporters of United Way and the Fun in the Sun program; we could not do it without this partnership.”
Fun in the Sun has operated as a longstanding partnership between the thousands of volunteers, community partners, workplaces, and educators who come together each summer to support the program. Community members and supporters are encouraged to get involved through the Lunch Bunch on-campus volunteer mentoring program, or support networks like Women United, a membership that supports Fun in the Sun through fundraising and volunteer opportunities for the program each year.
The 2024 Fun in the Sun program will run from June 17th through August 2nd,, 2024. Community members looking for current program information for enrolled students, or who would like to learn more about the opportunity for students and upcoming volunteer activities are invited to visit www.unitedwaysb.org/FITS.
About United Way of Santa Barbara County
Since 1923, United Way of Santa Barbara County has been a key leader in local efforts to empower children, families, and communities through its own unique collaborative programs and initiatives, partnership convening efforts, volunteer development, and funding. United Way of Santa Barbara County’s mission is to enrich the lives of children and families and build resilient communities by leading local programs and partnerships that improve school readiness and academic achievement, financial empowerment, and crisis response and recovery. To learn more, please visit unitedwaysb.org.