A Look Inside LevelUp Summer Day Camp

Summer in Atlanta looks different for every family. For a lot of kids in this neighborhood, it can mean long days with not much structure — parents at work, heat rolling in off the pavement, time that stretches out in ways that aren't always good.

LevelUp Summer Day Camp is AIM's answer to that.

Kids show up at 8:30am and stay until 4:30pm Monday - Friday. The mornings are built around reading and math — small classes, certified teachers, and the kind of one-on-one attention that's hard to come by anywhere else.

The afternoons open up into bible study, recreation, and fun. Sports outside, personalized snacks, songs, and the Gospel message.

Thursdays are a little different though. This is our field trip day. Sometimes we get out for unique experiences. Things like tours of Mercedes Benz Stadium or the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Other times we visit our partner churches for a day of fun activities, crafts, and games.

As kids get older, they age out of LevelUp. For years, it was difficult to keep up with them after this. LevelUp changes that. Teens who grow up in the program come back as junior and senior counselors — working alongside teachers, helping in the kitchen, showing up every day for the younger kids who are watching them whether they know it or not. They're not just helping. They're being invested in.

Kids who come to LevelUp have told us that when they're here, they feel safe. They know they'll be fed. They can just be kids.

Over the last several years, we've seen that this thing actually works. Kids who were reading two or three grade levels behind are now reading above their grade level. Students who spent years in AIM's programming are now becoming leaders among their peers.

LevelUp works. AIM works. Your support makes it possible.

That's not a small thing. AIM has been in the Lakewood neighborhood since 1989 — long enough to know what summer takes from a child who doesn't have somewhere good to be, and what it gives back when they do.

Want to be part of what's happening this summer and beyond?

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