ESA Foundation Celebrates Summer Learning Program with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES – July 31, 2019 – Today, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation and EVERFI are celebrating the impact of the Summer Slugger learning program, which was launched by Major League Baseball (MLB) and EVERFI. To commend students’ success in the second year of the program, guests from the ESA, the ESA Foundation are visiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles – Bell Gardens Clubhouse with District Director Franklin Ochoa from Assemblywoman Luz Rivas’ office.
Powered by education technology innovator EVERFI, Inc., and supported by MLB and its Clubs, Summer Slugger is an interactive digital course that uses a baseball-themed, game-based learning experience to reinforce key foundational and procedural skills to prevent students from losing critical math and literacy skills during the summer.
“Students lose up to 30% of their school-year learning over the summer. Engaging students through the power and fun of video games not only prevents this loss, it helps ignite a love of learning and lasting passion for STEM education,” said ESA Foundation Executive Director Anastasia Staten. “ESA and the ESA Foundation are thrilled to team with Major League Baseball on Summer Slugger to help address this critical academic issue among young people during the summer months and keep students excited to learn.”
Throughout the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles, participating youth were congratulated on their dedication to education and to preventing the “summer slide.”
“Summer Slugger has been a great program to keep our students on track for next school year, putting a stop to summer learning loss,” said Abel Canel, Bell Gardens Clubhouse Site Director. “Making learning a game, especially baseball, really resonates with our kids.”
“Each fall, teachers waste valuable time re-teaching their students old material that was lost during the summer months. Students, particularly students from low-income communities, can’t afford this summer slide,” said EVERFI Co-founder and President of Global Partnerships Jon Chapman. “EVERFI is excited to see the ESA Foundation joint this effort to fill in this critical learning gap through our digital, game-based course, Summer Slugger.”
Summer Slugger is provided to approximately 2,000 students at 36 schools and community organizations across Metro Los Angeles at no cost thanks to the support of the ESA Foundation and MLB.
About the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation
The ESA Foundation provides scholarships to the next generation of industry innovators and supports charitable organizations and schools that leverage entertainment software and technology to create meaningful opportunities for America’s youth. We seek to harness the collective power of the interactive entertainment industry to create positive social impact in our communities. We support geographically diverse projects and programs that benefit grantees of all ages, races and religions. To date, ESA Foundation has raised more than $22 million for a wide variety of worthy causes primarily through our signature event, Nite to Unite.
Media Contact: Anastasia Staten (astaten@theesa.com)
About EVERFI, Inc.
EVERFI is the leading education technology company that provides learners of all ages education for the real world, through innovative and scalable digital learning including topics like Financial Education, Digital Citizenship, STEM Career Readiness, Diversity and Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, Social and Emotional Learning, Character Education, and Health and Wellness. Founded in 2008, EVERFI is fueled by its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) subscription model and has certified over 25 million learners in critical skill areas. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EVERFI investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Advance Publications, and Rethink Education, and Rethink Impact. The EVERFI Education Network powers more than 4,200 partners in their education initiatives across all 50 states and Canada. Learn more at EVERFI.com
Media Contact: Jennifer Edgerly (jedgerly@everfi.com)
