By Natalie Hobbs ’18, Communications Specialist
Horizons Tower Hill had a fantastic summer with 13 rising second grade students returning to campus, along with eight rising first graders.
Horizons is a national program that aims to provide access to supplemental programming and advance educational equity by closing the opportunity and achievement gaps that can widen during summer break. This is Horizons’ second year at Tower Hill.
Tower Hill alum, Elizabeth Capone ’06 was eager to return to teach first grade in the program.
She was inspired to return by the curiosity of her students and the dedication of her colleagues. She also shares, “I love to be part of Tower Hill extending its plentiful resources to these deserving students.”
During Capone’s first summer with Horizons, her students’ biweekly visits to the pool quickly became her favorite activity. On their first day of Horizons, they were cautious of the water, holding on tight to Capone. But by the final day of the program, they were leaping in and diving their heads underwater.
Robby Saunders ’24, Horizons’ volunteers coordinator, also came back to teach a second summer of Horizons Tower Hill. Like Capone, he was motivated by being a part of the students’ swimming growth.
Capone and Saunders have not only witnessed confidence grow at the pool but in the classroom as well. The first graders Capone taught in Horizons Tower Hill’s inaugural year were the second graders on campus this year. She saw the difference it made for her students to come back to a familiar place: “They know the routines, they understand how it works. They know each other and it is really rewarding.”
This year, Saunders was delighted to reunite with Preston, a student he had connected with in his previous summer at Horizons. Saunders recounts, “It was the first day of camp. He just got dropped off and I saw him. He goes, “Robby!” and I shouted “Preston!” We ran, you know, rom-com style and hugged in the middle. I instantly was overjoyed to be here.”
This past summer, Horizons Tower Hill added a new daily activity called Try It with Tower Hill to help students build confidence and connections. Each day, student volunteers designed and led an assortment of activities-from bracelet-making to LEGOs to sports. The Horizons students picked from the options presented at the beginning of the session and then spent an hour working in small groups with the student volunteers.
When second grader James was asked what was his favorite part of Horizons, he was quick to name Try It with Tower Hill. Both the volunteers and the students embraced this opportunity to experiment and grow through Try It with Tower Hill.
This new activity “gave volunteers time to flex their leadership and teaching muscles,” reports Gemelle John, Executive Director of Horizons Tower Hill. It allowed the volunteers to shine, but also make mistakes and learn.
John recalled the time a few volunteers tried to start a chess club with a group of 7-year-olds who were new to the game. After a tricky first session, the volunteers were able to adapt their instruction, implement it and learn together.
John witnessed the importance of these adjacent generations interactions during Try It with Tower Hill, in the classroom and on the playground.
“Watching the kids be really, really present and then watching the volunteers being present with the kids-we can’t recreate that inorganically.”
Horizons volunteer AJ Hehir ’25 noted how much the younger students looked up to the older student volunteers and the power of being a good role model. Hehir shared that she is going to carry this sentiment with her as she enters her senior year.
Both Saunders and Hehir agreed that being a part of Horizons has reinforced their desire to work with kids.
“What definitely surprised me, [was] how much I enjoy the academic side of it,” says Saunders. “I always knew that I liked working with kids in a sports setting or babysitting. But I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy doing actual academic work and teaching them.”
One of the most rewarding parts of Saunders’ experience was “seeing [the students’] excitement when they [got] something right that they’d been working really hard on.”
“I knew I loved working with kids before this summer,” says Heheir. “But it surprised me how much Horizons solidified that for me… there’s something different about Horizons. I guess it’s the specific group of kids, but I just love working with them so much, and they’re so excited to be here… It feels really good to see them grow.”
Horizons Tower Hill is an opportunity for growth-growth for our Horizons students, our student volunteers and our community.
“This summer, we’ve already had a lot of volunteers engaging in earnest conversations with kids about why Horizons exists at all,” says John. “Horizons is the beginning of a restoration and opens a door to talk about restoration.” By encouraging these conversations in different spaces, John shares, “It’s the start of figuring out what needs to come next.”