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Summer 2026 at UMass Boston

Out on the harbor, up Blue Hill and into the brook.

From July 7 to 24, 2026, middle school youth from Roxbury and Dorchester spent their summer with KeySteps and its partners, getting to know their environment, the weather and the world around them.

See the summerSupport KeySteps
Summer 2026
July 7 to 24
Where the program was based
UMass Boston
Partner staff who worked with the youth
25
Middle school youth
Roxbury & Dorchester

This past summer

How the summer came together

Continued funding and program constraints made Summer 2026 a challenge to plan. Boston After School & Beyond confirmed its funding from DESE on April 28, 2026. With that, and help from the supporters listed below, KeySteps offered the program at UMass Boston from July 7 to July 24, 2026.

The program was built around the KeySteps purpose and DESE's goal for summer learning: to help youth return to school in the fall, and to improve their academic, college and career readiness along with their social and emotional growth.

Planning began in the winter and spring of 2026 with our partners. Twenty-five partner staff worked with KeySteps staff, teachers and parents to make each outing happen.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

Out on Boston Harbor

Youth and staff boarded the Island Explorer to see the harbor and learn how its 34 islands formed. On Georges Island they toured Fort Warren, learned the basics of fishing, and got to know the bivalves, like the mussels that live on the harbor floor.

The fort left the biggest impression. It is huge, and built from Quincy granite. The views of the city from the island came close, along with all the boats in the harbor getting ready for Boston 250.

The day at a glance

The boat
The Island Explorer, out across the harbor
The fort
Fort Warren, built from Quincy granite
The shore
Fishing basics and the bivalves of the harbor floor

Blue Hill Reservation & Observatory

To the top of Blue Hill

Youth hiked the Abigail Adams Trail to the top of Blue Hill, stopping to explore vernal pools and the animals and plants along the way. At the Observatory they saw the instruments used to forecast weather and predict climate.

From the summit they could see the City of Boston, the harbor, and the streams that feed the Neponset River.

A smiling girl in a "Believe in Yourself" shirt leans on the observatory railing, with miles of green trees and the sky behind her.
At the top of the Blue Hill Observatory.
On a wooded hillside, a girl with a backpack looks up at three friends standing on top of large granite boulders.
The KeySteps team takes some time out to scale rocks on Blue Hill.
A man in a cap explains an instrument shelter to a group of youth holding clipboards, outside the observatory.
Mikey shows how the tools at the Blue Hill Observatory are used for daily data collection.
A boy leans on the railing of the observatory roof and smiles, with weather instruments on a mast and a wide wooded view behind him.
An aspiring scientist atop Blue Hill at the Observatory.

Neponset River Watershed Association

Waders on, into the brook

Four staff from the Neponset River Watershed Association taught youth about streams and rivers: what lives in them, and why they matter to us and to wildlife.

Then everyone waded into Ponkapoag Brook with nets to collect macroinvertebrates. They placed their finds carefully in containers, and worked as a team at the microscopes to discover how much life the watershed holds.

Six middle schoolers in waders stand in a sunlit brook holding nets, smiling, with a man from the watershed association behind them.
KeySteps youth in the water at Ponkapoag with Ian from the Neponset River Watershed Association.
A girl in rubber boots and gloves stands in a shallow woodland brook holding a net, while a man in waders beside her watches the net.
Ian from the Neponset River Watershed Association guides a KeySteps youth as she gathers macroinvertebrates.
A girl in waders stands in the brook and lifts a blue collecting net out of the water.
Netting macroinvertebrates with the Neponset River Watershed Association.
Seen from behind, a youth uses tweezers to sort through a white tray of brook water and sediment on a picnic table.
Sorting macroinvertebrates from the brook samples.
A girl leans over a microscope to study a sample dish, with a field guide of stream insects open on the table beside her.
Examining macroinvertebrates under the microscope.
A group of youth in waders hold long-handled nets beside two adults from the watershed association and a teacher, standing in the woods by the brook.
The KeySteps team at Ponkapoag with Ms. McDuffie and their guides, Sean and Ian from the Neponset River Watershed Association.

Fuss & O'Neill

What a dam is for

Youth walked along the Neponset River with three Fuss & O'Neill staff to see the Baker Chocolate Factory Dam. At the Lower Mills Library, Fuss & O'Neill staff presented the history of Massachusetts' 3,000 dams, and how communities are repairing, removing and repurposing them.

After lunch the group had ice cream at Dorchester's Ice Creamsmith and relaxed in Dorchester Park.

The KeySteps group and Fuss & O'Neill staff stand together between the bookshelves of a library.
Fuss & O'Neill staff with the KeySteps team at the Lower Mills Library, where they shared the history and use of Massachusetts' 3,000 dams.

Haley House

Take Back the Kitchen

After walking to Haley House in Nubian Square, Roxbury, the group worked as a team with two Haley House staff to cook and eat a meal of fish and locally grown vegetables.

Then it was off to Malcolm X Park for some flag football.

Two young people in aprons and gloves work in a commercial kitchen, one holding up a halved avocado over a bowl of shredded salad.
Preparing the fixings for a salad in the Haley House kitchen.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Along the Greenway to Ryan Park

Five people from the EPA walked with youth along the Greenway through Dorchester, Milton and Mattapan, and talked about the cleanup of the Lower Neponset River. At Ryan Park the youth took part in a soil testing demonstration.

After lunch, they cooled off in the Ryan Park wading pool.

At a folding table of sampling equipment in a park, a man shows three youth a handheld instrument while an adult looks on and smiles.
KeySteps youth discover the tools the EPA uses to test soil.
Two men in green polo shirts hold up a long sampling line over white buckets on the grass while three youth watch.
A soil testing demonstration at Ryan Park.

Thank you

The partners who made it happen

  • Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

    The Island Explorer and a day on Georges Island

  • Blue Hill Reservation & Observatory

    The climb up Blue Hill and the weather instruments at the top

  • Neponset River Watershed Association

    Stream sampling in Ponkapoag Brook and the microscopes after

  • Fuss & O'Neill

    The Baker Chocolate Factory Dam and the story of Massachusetts dams

  • Haley House

    Take Back the Kitchen, cooking a meal together in Nubian Square

  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    The Greenway walk and soil testing at Ryan Park

Working alongside them: Lower Mills Library, Sodexo at UMass and Local Motion Bus Company.

Funding and support

  • Boston After School & Beyond, with funding from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
  • Town Fair Tire
  • Higginson Lewis School 3-8
  • Higher Ground: Boston Children's Hospital Community Health & Engagement Program
  • Wilmington Trust
  • and others

Next summer

Help give more young people a summer like this.

Every outing on this page happened because a partner or a funder said yes. KeySteps wants to bring the program back to UMass Boston next summer.

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