School’s out for the summer!

With the school year behind us and many fun-filled days of summer ahead, we can imagine that many youngsters would be happy not to open another book for a few months.

As we adults know, however, brain drain is a real phenomenon, especially in the lazy days of summer.

Educators in Berrien and Cass counties likely equipped your students with tools to keep the wheels turning through the summer months, but there are more opportunities to learn in summer than one might think.

Plenty of organized opportunities are available to local youth through camps like Fitch Camp, Summer My Way and Five Pines. Loads of local churches offer Vacation Bible School, and other area museums and entities have prepared day camps and other activities.

Each of our local libraries have kicked off summer reading programs designed to reward students for cracking books and continuing to learn throughout the summer. With incentives like new toys and coupons, youngsters may be more likely to be encouraged to pick up a book than they would if assigned reading in the classroom.

If reading is not your child’s thing, there are other ways to keep the learning going throughout the summer. Fernwood Botanical Garden offers programming year round, and special events catered to youth in the summer months. Kiddos can learn about science, history, art and culture through these events — and they may not even realize they’re learning a thing!

Michiana is blessed with many natural playgrounds perfect for exploring. Lists of county parks can be found at casscountymi.org and berriencounty.org.

In a world where it is all too easy to spend summer days lounged on the couch with an iPad in hand, we encourage you to take advantage of these programs — most of which are completely free — to continue building your child’s brain through the summer months.

Opinions expressed are those of general manager Ambrosia Neldon, managing editor Sarah Culton and sports editor Scott Novak.