The cornerstone of the Spring Creek Literacy Project is a six-week summer enrichment program. All girls entering grades six-nine and who live in the targeted rural communities are eligible to attend the literacy program free of charge for four summers. Joining them each summer is a smaller group of interns selected through a competitive application process open to girls attending Madison High School. The interns receive mentoring and college application guidance from the team of Duke undergraduates. In turn, the high school interns serve as mentors and teachers for their younger peers. This design fosters a culture of expectation for middle school girls: The pathway to college can become my future too.

In the mornings, girls read novels, poetry, and trade books; receive remedial reading instruction if they are in need of it; participate in spirited book group discussions led by Duke undergraduates; and produce a glossy magazine with their own stories, poems, photographs, and journalistic pieces. The SCLP girls enjoy a hot, nutritious breakfast and lunch at GRITS cafe and restaurant, prepared under the watchful eye of owner Joyce Ledford Gardner - a Spring Creek native. In the afternoons, our students study digital literacies and compose digital stories about their lives. The learning spaces we create in the Spring Creek Community Center offer state-of-the-art technology and are designed to allow girls to move freely between writing stories and poetry, reading books, and exploring digital forms of literacy.

Our summer program also includes ample opportunities for exploring the world outside of the Appalachian region, and for enjoying relaxing and healthful outdoor activities. Girls take day hikes that end in beautiful mountain vistas and enjoy recreational activities that combine old-fashioned summer fun - like face painting or tossing water balloons - with important time for bonding with the team of college students. A highlight of the summer is our two-night trip to Duke University. Girls who have rarely traveled far from their local rural communities have the chance to experience life on a college campus. They stay in dorms, participate in their own classes, and get to know members of the Duke student and faculty community.

Powerful educational experiences like these can inspire girls to become leaders and catalysts for change in their communities. The Spring Creek Literacy Project represents a vision of what rural education and girls' education could accomplish in 21^st century America, given the right resources, partnerships, technologies, and teaching expertise.

Digital Stories

The digital stories created by SCLP students bring together one of the oldest of traditions in Appalachia - storytelling - with new forms of literacy. We invite you to play some of the digital stories created by SCLP girls. These stories take you inside the girls' worlds and introduce you to their voices. They also reflect the potential of digital literacy to create powerful new educational experiences for students growing up in remote rural areas. Over the past summer, our students became as facile with digital storytelling as they are with traditional reading and writing. As the title of our magazine suggests, these digital storytellers are truly Girls Between Time.