4-H Farm Center at Auer Farm
Grades: 5-6
Participating Districts:  Avon, Burlington, Hartford and Simsbury

In this 15-day program at Auer Farm in Bloomfield, students identify various foods and follow their cycle form the field to the table.  Through direct contact with the farm animals, they learn the interconnectedness between what the animals provide for people and what people must provide for the animals.  Students also compare farming locally to farms in the lands of their ancestors.  The program runs for four hours each day.

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Choice Summer Academy
Grades: 1-8
Participating Districts:  All CREC Choice communities

The Choice Summer Academy provides academic remedial support to select Choice students and students from other districts to bolster their success in suburban school environments.  The carefully designed program brings together the most academically needy students and offers individualized assistance in basic reading, language arts and math skills.  One feature of the Choice Summer Academy is the use of the “Voyager” curriculum, which teaches and develops basic skills within an exciting and highly motivating learning environment.  In addition to the focus on the development and enhancement of basic skills, the Choice Summer Academy includes daily activities that facilitate the development of the students’ positive social skills.

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City Slickers
Grades: 5-12
Participating Districts:  Bristol, Hartford, Plymouth and Wolcott

City Slickers is a program that teaches students about horses and riding skills, while developing academic and social skills within a diverse group of peers.  Students are grouped in ethnically, racially and economically diverse teams.  The small teams build and reinforce reading, writing, math, science and computer skills, as they develop other basic skills of trust, empathy, communication, negotiation, compromise and teamwork.

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Discovery Center
Grades: 4-6
Participating Districts:  CREC member districts

This three-year program partners urban and suburban schools in grades 4, 5 and 6 to enhance student diversity, raise student awareness of diversity issues and to increase student motivation and skills through the use of new and prior knowledge.  Students receive pen pals at their partner schools to communicate with online and through partner school visits.  The program for fourth-grade students culminates with a day trip to a camp for team-building exercises.  Fifth-graders spend a week overnight at the camp, focusing on a common curriculum unit shared by both schools.  For sixth graders, Discover Center concludes with a three-day residential camp program focusing on social action. For more information, please visit the Discovery Center's web site.

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EQUAL Summer Program
Grades: 5-10
Participating Districts:  CREC member districts

EQUAL (Educational Quality through Understanding And Learning) provides high-quality academic enrichment within a racially, ethnically and socio-economically diverse learning environment.  The curriculum is grade-specific and contains comprehensive, yet flexible activities to supplement skills taught in home schools.  Based on state curriculum frameworks, these enrichment and assessment activities are designed to reinforce the skills assessed on the CMT and CAPT instruments.  The EQUAL Program provides successful bridges between urban and suburban communities, introducing students from both settings to each other and teaching important social, academic, vocational and lifelong skills.
Download the EQUAL 2008 Application
Download the EQUAL 2008 Brochure

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We’re Making Connecticut History
Grades: 4-5
Participating Districts: Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Glastonbury

“We’re Making Connecticut History” is an interdistrict program focused on enhancing students’ understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity while getting to know students from another district. In addition to classes being partnered together for the length of the program, each student is partnered with a student from the partner class. Partners attend field trips, participate in classroom activities, and complete assignments that supplement the learning experiences of the program sessions. The program sessions center on Connecticut history and students visit the CHS Museum and the Old State House, as well as partner schools and other local museums. Each session is meant to enhance students’ appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity in Connecticut today, while learning about many diverse cultures in the state’s history. For more information, please visit the Connecticut Historical Society's web site.

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