As millions of schoolchildren are forced to stay home, an online summer-learning platform offered by Major League Baseball (MLB) is being rolled out ahead of schedule. The “Summer Slugger” program is offered in partnership with a digital learning platform founded by three Bowdoin graduates.
EVERFI was established in 2008 by Tom Davidson ’94, now CEO, along with Jon Chapman ’96 and Ray Martinez ’96, who are both company presidents. They teamed up with MLB in 2017 to launch “Summer Slugger,” a free baseball-themed and gamified education course focusing on math and literacy skills, to address the summer learning loss that typically occurs during the vacation months.
MLB and EVERFI recently announced the widespread availability of “Summer Slugger” to assist some of the 39 million children currently learning at home in the US and Canada due to the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a press release, “EVERFI will work closely with MLB Clubs on the direct-to-fan and school and community engagement for the Summer Slugger program.” This will involve clubs having access to their own co-branded course, with creative logos and promotional content.
“Our core mission has always been about making education available to students and, during this time of crisis, we are pleased that so many of our partners have stepped up to the plate to open up their programs to the millions of students and families who are navigating this new learn-at-home experience,” said Chapman, who leads EVERFI’s global partnerships division.
“This is an extraordinary time for teachers and students, and we applaud MLB for ensuring that students continue to receive critical math and literacy skills education in a highly engaging format,” he added.
Parents and teachers can access the program at SummerSlugger.com.
