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2022 Genius & Joy Grants Will Support 11 Summer Camps at North Minneapolis Schools

By May 26, 2022June 15th, 2022Foundation Blog
Genius and Joy Camp

Does your student love band? Basketball or boxing? Cooking or hula hoops? 

North Minneapolis families with children in grades K-12 won’t want to miss this year’s exciting new roster of free summer camps designed by educators at five Minneapolis Public Schools campuses.

The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota is honored to award its second year of Genius & Joy grants, which will support 11 distinct summer programs in July and August. Genius & Joy grants enable MPS educators – including teachers, education support professionals (ESPs), support staff, and administrators – to design engaging and enriching summer learning opportunities for their students. These camps occur at students’ home schools and bring them together with their familiar educators to sustain these relationships through the summer.

“We are thrilled at the variety of activities that Northside educators are planning for this year’s Genius & Joy camps, and we can’t wait to see what their students create together,” said Joel Luedtke, a Program Director for Education who works on behalf of the Phillips Family Foundation.

Families can register their students for all 11 Genius & Joy camps through Minneapolis Public Schools’ Community Education website. Search the MPS catalog for “Genius & Joy.”  

2022 Genius & Joy camps include:

  • Cityview Elementary
    • Reach for the Stars! (August 1-18)
  • Loring Elementary
    • Northside Joy Camp (August 1-18)
  • Lucy Laney Elementary
    • Cooking Around the World (August 1-11)
    • Boxing and Autobiographies (August 1-18)
    • My Voice, My Art (August 1-18)
    • Xpress Yourself (August 8-18)
    • HBCU-Styled Steppers Camp (August 15-18)
    • Hoop Hoop Achieve (August 15-18)
  • North Community High School
    • Northside United Summer Band Camp (July 11-21)
  • Patrick Henry High School
    • What’s My Name? (July 18-21 and August 15-18)
    • Joy Justice and Healing II (August 1-11)

All told, the Foundation will provide more than $220,000 for educator stipends and supplies at this year’s camps. Special thanks to Phillips’ Education Advisory Committee, comprised of north Minneapolis parents and educators, for reading this year’s Genius & Joy applications and recommending these for funding.

“Cityview’s Reach for the Stars Part 2 summer camp is an excellent opportunity for our young geniuses to continue the exploration of their greatness through reading, cooking, arts and crafts and teamwork games classes. This great opportunity will be held by some of our wonderful Superstar staff at Cityview Community School. Come soar among the stars with us this summer!”

Terry Collins, Cityview ESP and Camp Site Coordinator
Phillips Family Foundation

Author Phillips Family Foundation

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