Just like that, Muscatine Community School District’s S. P. A. R. K. (Summer Program for Arts, Recreation, and Knowledge) is over. I want to thank all my coworkers who showed up daily and made S. P. A. R. K. successful. This includes all teachers, paraeducators, custodians, kitchen crew members, bus drivers, maintenance workers, volunteers, and community partners.

Friends, we had over 400 students enrolled in S. P. A. R. K., and I know they enjoyed it because I was there almost every day (I only missed stopping by twice). The school district offered S. P. A. R. K. at no cost, thanks to some federal COVID funds that we set aside to fund it, another example of your public school district being mindful of our funding and resources.

The goal of S. P. A. R. K. is to combat learning loss between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next one. Students spent their mornings doing things like reading, math, and science and had afternoon enrichment classes that saw so many organizations, businesses, and individuals come in and work with them.

If you’re on social media, you can call up any of the Muscatine Community School District’s accounts and watch the videos I created and the photos that I shared. You’ve also seen coverage in the Discover Muscatine newspaper and on WQAD and WHBF news in the Quad Cities. This isn’t me trying to break my arm patting the school district on the back, but me sharing this with you because I am so honored to work here and have S. P. A. R. K. for our students and their families!

Here’s the great news; S. P. A. R. K. will return in June 2024! I know it seems like a lifetime from now, but you know how fast time flies by, and before you know it, this column will be talking about S. P. A. R. K. getting ready to start!

So, thank you again to all team members that made S. P. A. R. K. a memorable experience, and I hope you can rest up and enjoy your time before school starts on August 23! Thank you all!