President Obama has addressed educational awareness through his latest act – declaring today, July 9th 2009, as National Summer Learning Day, and calling youth throughout the country to partake in service as well as extracurricular activities.

National Summer Learning Day will consist of several nonprofit sponsored events across the country. These fun filled educational activities range from a group of Chicago students from Kids Keep Learning taking a trip to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, to a group of Harlem kids, involved in REAL Kids reading and enrichment summer program at Harlem, participating in a formal induction for summer baseball teams.

National Summer Learning Day looks to improve the summer for all children, moving kids from the couch to the community. A decrease in reading and learning over the summer months contributes to the achievement gap between middle and lower class children. In fact, according to a study at John Hopkins University, a summer loss of 3 months results in a gap of 18 months by the end of 6th grade.

To learn more about the National Summer Learning Day, please visit www.summerlearning.org.