The Trinity Education for Excellence Program (TEEP) is a free, five-week, full-day summer program designed to enrich the minds and lives of these students through cultural and academic exploration, sending them back to their schools in the fall with a renewed love for learning. For five weeks each summer, TEEP staff, counselors, and teachers create a safe and exciting place of learning and growing for Boston Public School students entering the 7th and 8th grades. TEEP also offers a year-round Leadership Development Program (LDP), training TEEP graduates to be future TEEP leaders and empowering them to be fully engaged in their own communities. In 2007, nearly 100 students participated.

TEEP empowers students and affirms each individual through a core philosophy of the 5 R's: Respect, Responsibility, Restraint, Reciprocity, and Redemption (which TEEP defines as second chances). TEEP students are not given grades, but are assessed on the basis of their attendance, attitude, behavior, and leadership potential.

Summer mornings at TEEP are a time for math, language arts, music, and art - taught in small classes by certified teachers. In the afternoons, students take field trips to places like the Museum of Fine Arts and Fenway Park. Students also have the chance to learn a variety of skills through classes, such as video production, and can participate in "Kids Can Cook," where they prepare meals for the rest of the camp or to take home.

"I think it's so powerful to see how these students have grown - to hear them talk about the lessons they have internalized, and how excited they are to lead the next group of kids. These counselors are so committed. It's wonderful to hear these 10th graders speak so eloquently about how they've grown - better than many adults could!"
Megan Coles Zug, TEEP Advisory Committee member

Leadership Development Program
TEEP's year-round Leadership Development Program is designed for TEEP graduates who are in the grades 9-12. Its purpose is to develop leadership and communication skills that empower students to become future leaders at TEEP, and to challenge them to become meaningfully engaged in their communities during the school year. The program also supports the older LDP students with college applications, entry exams, and college visits. The LDP program meets monthly and allows the students to maintain a regular connection with the principles of TEEP during the school year.

"I was really shy, but TEEP has empowered me to go outside my box and meet new people. I'm a more well-rounded person. I've learned how to be a leader."
A TEEP Student

TEEP History
TEEP was founded in the fall of 1999, modeled in part on the successful TEEP program at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans, and was designed to be a fusion of summer school and summer day camp. The original goal of TEEP still holds: to provide students from the Boston Public Schools a program of academic and cultural exploration that stimulates their minds and helps foster a love of learning. The TEEP mission is to create a safe community where every student is inspired to discover, empowered to engage, and individually affirmed.

To find out how you can support TEEP, or if you are interested in attending, please contact TEEP Director Paul Bowen, 617-536-0944.