Welcome!

Hello parents! I hope you are having a wonderful week and looking forward to our first day on Monday, June 22nd! This is an example of the weekly “newsletter” you will receive from me via email throughout the program. This one is a bit on the long side. I apologize, but it includes a lot of key information. Much of the information will be repeated in future emails as well for your reference. Please note that this newsletter is separated into the following categories: 

• Personnel

• First Day Protocol

• Using GoToMeeting

• Summer 2020 Program Schedule

• Summer Enrichment Online Schedule

• Summer Enrichment Online Classrooms

• Summer Enrichment Online Passwords

• Summer Enrichment Online Volunteer Lunch (if applicable to your student)

• Important Notes

• Important Dates

• Important Links

• Important Names

• Video Tutorial

Thank you very much! Personnel Jenny Cort (admin@slsummerenrichment.org) - Program Coordinator Jenny is our head honcho and overseer of the program. Her mother, Debbie Little, founded Summer Enrichment in 1988 (read more about our history here.) She communicates with Youth Assistance on our behalf, and handles the background mechanics that keep the program running. As this role is time-consuming, she is only present with us during program hours for a couple days per week. Any questions regarding the inner-workings of our organization, payments, and overall board-related issues can be directed to her.  Marcie Kryka (director@slsummerenrichment.org) - Program Director Marcie (that’s me!) is our direct supervisor and point person for both the Elementary and Mid-High sessions. I am present during program hours daily to oversee activities, make schedules, manage staff and student concerns, and communicate with parents. If you have any questions regarding the program’s day-to-day activities, I am the person you will reach out to. Please note that I will be sending out a weekly email “newsletter” with information like this email. Please keep an eye on the key dates and links at the bottom of each email.  Program Staff/Activity Leaders Our staff is who keep the activities and fun rolling! These individuals will be in charge of running activities, writing scripts, and directing shows. They are the people your students will have the most interaction with this summer. There may be some names you recognize, and there may be some new faces! These are the folks you will talk to if you have questions about scripts, costumes, etc.  You can get in contact with staff by asking questions on our website forum.  Henry Berardelli Eric DeBono Ben Machesky Ethan Ponsock Cooper Schultz Miranda Stepchuk Jake Werner Hannah Willett You can find more information about our amazing staff here! First Day Protocol All Students We will be holding a Day 1 Orientation class on our GoToMeeting platform. We will introduce our staff, meet our students, and give a general overview of how the Program will be running online this summer. Please refer to our website for instructions on how to download the meeting platform or check system requirements here.  Classroom passwords and additional schedule details will be discussed more in depth below.  Using GoToMeeting GoToMeeting is a fantastic group meeting platform, and they were generous enough to provide us with three free months this summer. Please refer to system requirements and download links on our website here.  I strongly encourage you to experiment with logging into classrooms before our first day. Testing this technology is very important to ensure it works correctly and you become familiar with it! Summer Enrichment Online 2020 Program Schedule This summer’s entire program schedule is available on the Tockify website here  Please note that you can search for specific sessions, activities, etc. and can modify the view to see a Monthly layout, Agenda layout, and Pinboard layout. A mini-calendar plug-in from this site is also available on our website on the Schedule page. 

Every listing on this calendar will include a link to the classroom you will need for your activity. You can also find these classroom links on our website here.  Elementary students will have the majority of their activities between 10:00AM and 12:00PM Monday-Wednesday. Please note they will have longer days on Thursdays for shared group activities.  Non-volunteer Mid-High students will have most of their activities between 12:30PM and 2:30PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Please note they will have longer days on Wednesdays for shared group activities.  Volunteer Mid-High students should expect to attend all of these events. 

I will also provide a simplified weekly schedule each weekend for the upcoming week. The schedule for Week 1 will follow shortly after this email.  Summer Enrichment Online 2020 Classrooms All classroom links will be provided in every event listing on the Tockify calendar.  They will also be provided directly on our website here.  Summer Enrichment Online 2020 Passwords Passwords will only be listed via private email, and not on the public website. This is to ensure student and staff privacy and safety. I will include this password list in every weekend newsletter for your convenience. Please note that they are case sensitive.  Summer Enrichment Online 2020 Volunteer Lunch Protocol Parents of middle- and high-school volunteers: Lunch will take place 11:45-12:30 every day. During this time, staff will be taking a break from running online classes. Please help your students plan their meals accordingly during this break.  Important Notes

• Please be advised that as this summer’s format is new to all of us, the schedule may be subject to slight changes. Some sessions may end early depending on staff availability, etc. Please be patient with us. We appreciate your flexibility. 

• Please remind your students to adhere to standard school dress code when appearing on camera. We also ask that all students wear close-toed shoes during dance lessons, as these are the safest option to avoid any potential injuries.

• Please also note that it is important to let your student’s teachers know about scheduled absences. If they need to miss some time due to illness or emergency, this is no problem! (And there is no need to “call them in” absent in these cases.) But if they will be absent for an extended period of time for camp, vacation, etc., having advance notice helps our staff prepare activities accordingly.

• We are open to suggestions on how to continue with our Tricky Tray fundraiser in a virtual setting this year! Typically, we collect various donated items between $5 and $10 from families to raffle at the end of each performance night. We usually seek donations from local businesses (most businesses have worked with us in the past and look forward to participating). Please let us know if you’d be interested in lending a hand in this task and brainstorming in the new format.

• If you would like to volunteer in any way, please let us know! We would love and appreciate any help you are able to provide, and your dedication contributes to the longevity of our program!

• If you know of any additional fundraising opportunities, please let us know!

Important Dates Monday, June 22nd: Our first day! Wednesday, July 1st & Thursday, July 2nd: No Program. Enjoy your holiday! TBD: We typically hold an Aubree’s Fundraiser every summer. We are currently in the process of determining whether we can still participate in this Fundraiser via take-out orders to ensure social distancing cooperations. Thursday, July 30th: This is our tentative date for a live watch party of the final performance footage put together by our students this year. This date may be subject to change depending on staff availability to assist in video editing. Stay tuned for details!

Important Links Summer Enrichment Website Summer Enrichment News/Announcements Blog Summer Enrichment Forums Summer 2020 Program Calendar via Tockify Summer 2020 Online Instructions Summer 2020 Online Classrooms Summer 2020 Online Schedule GoToMeeting South Lyon Area Youth Assistance Summer Enrichment Facebook Group Summer Enrichment Instagram Important Names Jenny Cort - Program Coordinator (admin@slsummerenrichment.org) Marcie Kryka - Program Director (director@slsummerenrichment.org) Program Staff Henry Berardelli Eric DeBono Ben Machesky Ethan Ponsock Cooper Schultz Miranda Stepchuk Jake Werner Hannah Willett If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me any time.  Thank you for your cooperation! We will see you Monday! Video Tutorial: Navigating Summer Enrichment Online Via our Website Blog