Alief ISD reports growth in Summerfest program; district used 'bring-a-buddy' outreach and internal staff to expand offerings

Alief ISD told its board Tuesday that the district’s third Summerfest program grew this year and emphasized in-district talent and a ‘bring-a-buddy’ outreach campaign to boost participation.

Kendrick Thomas and district staff described Summerfest as a multi-department effort that ran at one campus this year rather than six, allowing organizers to concentrate programming. Staff solicited proposals beginning in January, received more than 50 proposals for sessions and selected a mix of in-district instructors and four outside vendors focused on STEM and enrichment, Thomas said.

The district also ran a bring-a-buddy promotion: students who attended in consecutive years and invited a new peer were entered into drawings for prizes such as TVs and bicycles. Transportation and logistics staff, finance and purchasing personnel, and site operations staff were credited with handling equipment moves and other operational tasks.

Presentation slides shown to the board highlighted program elements including STEM labs, cooking, mindfulness, sign language, swim instruction and arts activities. Thomas told trustees that staff used social media and direct outreach to parents to recruit families and that the district collected post-program surveys from students, parents and staff to improve the event for next year.

Trustees and presenters framed Summerfest as an effort to reduce “summer melt” by keeping students academically and socially engaged across 16 program days. District staff said they already had launched registration for next year and intended to expand the program again.

No formal action or funding request was taken at the meeting; the item was presented as a program report for the board’s information.