Registration is still open for Wild Ideas, this year’s theme in the Jeffco Library Summer Challenge. Book lovers of all ages can participate. Simply log onto to www.jeffcolibrary.org and click on the Wild Ideas logo on the home page or call 303-235.5275 to sign up.

Summer offers kids a great chance to have fun and unwind from school. But there’s also the potential for the summer slide, a phenomenon where kids tend to forget some of what they learned the previous year.

According to a Brookings Institute study by David M. Quinn and Morgan Polikoff, students lose more than one month of learning during summer break, with more acute losses for lower-income students. 

This year, there’s also potential for increased learning losses due to COVID-19 disruptions. 

In fact, attendance at Jeffco’s Summer of Early Learning (JSEL) literacy program has doubled this year. 

With that in focus, the Jeffco library thinks reading throughout the summer and completing activities is another way to keep kids’ minds sharp, so they are ready for the next school year.

Schools also benefit when you participate in Wild Ideas.

When you register for the Library Summer Challenge, select the school you or your child will be attending. Then, as your kids log their reading and activities, the points will automatically count toward the school competition.

“We want to be innovative, resilient, lifelong learners,” said Tobye Ertelt, a digital teaching librarian at Oberon Middle School, one of the winners in last year’s school contest. “The more you read, the more vocabulary you get, the more your brain strengthens. Exercising your brain over the summer is important to keep everything fresh, both for children and adults.”

Ertelt and those at Oberon Middle plan to be school contest champions in 2021 and have already promoted the prizes among students.

The $800 Oberon won last year went directly back to students with the purchase of student-selected books, including novels, graphic novels, e-books and nonfiction books, for the library to increase excitement about reading.

“I am so very proud of our students. They are so dedicated, competitive and excited about the Library Summer Challenge. The school plans to use its win last year to motivate students,” Ertelt said. “We want to stay on top, so we’re going to use that as leverage.”

You and your kids can earn great prizes as you log your reading and complete activities that count toward the goal of earning 500 points. Each minute of reading equals one point and each activity counts as 25 points. You can get a midway prize at 250 points and a finisher prize at 500. Every 500 points you earn after reaching the 500 mark enters you into the grand prize drawing for a new iPad.

Track your progress by downloading the Beanstack mobile app. or pick up a paper tracker at any Jefferson County Public Library location. 

If you participated in last year’s program, sign in using your previous account. If this is your first time, create a new account for yourself or your family. Then, start logging your activities and reading time.