More Than a Summer Program: How PILLAR Turned Summer Into a Season of Possibility
- PILLAR INC
- Aug 9
- 6 min read
Summer can mean many different things to a child. For some, it means vacations, camps, museum visits, road trips, and weeks filled with new experiences. For others, summer may simply mean being home, with fewer opportunities to explore places outside of their everyday environment.
At PILLAR INC, we understand that these differences matter. A young person’s future is shaped not only by what they learn in a classroom, but also by what they are exposed to, the people they meet, the questions they are encouraged to ask, and the possibilities they are allowed to imagine. That understanding became the foundation of PILLAR’s first summer program.We did not want to create a program simply to keep children occupied during the summer. We wanted to create meaningful experiences that introduced our youth to education, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, higher education, wellness, nature, and community. Most importantly, we wanted them to walk away knowing that there are many DIFFERENT paths available to them.
There is something powerful about seeing a possibility with your own eyes.
We can tell a child that college is possible, but something changes when that child actually walks across a university campus, sees the classrooms and facilities, and realizes that students who look like them belong there. We can tell young people that they can become entrepreneurs, but the conversation becomes different when they begin learning how businesses work, what it means to own something, how investments can grow, what royalties are, and why property and land can become valuable assets.We can tell children that taking care of their physical and emotional well-being matters, but there is another kind of lesson that happens when they spend a day outdoors, walk several miles together, encourage one another, laugh, get tired, and realize that wellness can also be enjoyable.
This summer, we wanted our young people to experience all of those things. Not every lesson requires a desk. Not every classroom needs four walls. And some of the most important lessons a child carries into adulthood may begin with a simple realization:
There is more out there for me.
Throughout the summer, our students were introduced to learning in several different environments. Our library experience reinforced something we deeply believe at PILLAR: literacy is the foundation for lifelong learning. Libraries are more than shelves filled with books. They are places where children can explore their interests, discover new subjects, ask questions, access resources, and learn independently the Omaha central Library was perfect Place! ( we also got them there first ever library cards).
We also spent time exploring nature, including a visit to Lauritzen Gardens briefly. Experiences like these may appear simple from the outside, but they serve an important purpose. Children need opportunities to step outside of their regular routines and encounter different environments. Sometimes learning means reading a book. Other times, it means walking through a garden, noticing something you have never seen before, asking a question, or simply being curious about the world around you.
That same philosophy shaped our wellness activities.
One of our summer experiences included a hike that was originally planned to be approximately seven miles. Omaha's weather, however, had its own opinion about our itinerary, so the hike was shortened to roughly four miles.
The mileage was never the most important part.
The children were moving their bodies, spending time outside, talking with one another, challenging themselves, and experiencing wellness in a way that felt active rather than clinical. When we talk about developing young people, academics cannot be the entire conversation. Their physical health matters. Their mental and emotional well-being matters. Their confidence matters. Their relationships matter. And yes, simply allowing children to experience joy matters too.
One of the most meaningful parts of our summer program centered around financial literacy and entrepreneurship. We wanted to move beyond the traditional conversation of simply telling children, “Save your money.”
Saving is important, but financial literacy is much bigger than saving.
Our youth were introduced to conversations about entrepreneurship, investments, business ownership, real estate, land ownership, royalties, and the importance of building assets. The students were challenged to create their own inventions and pitch them to us as if they were stepping into Shark Tank-and we definitely didn’t take it easy on them! They had to sell us on their ideas, answer questions, and convince us their products were worth investing in, and boy, did they deliver. To bring our lesson on investing full circle, the three members of the winning team each received Pizza Machine tickets-our fun way of showing them what it feels like when someone believes in your idea enough to invest in it.
They were encouraged to think about money not only as something that is earned and spent, but as something that can be managed, invested, multiplied, and used to create opportunities.
They learned that an idea can become a business. Creativity can generate income. Intellectual property can create royalties. Property can become an asset. Investments can grow over time. And perhaps most importantly, they began hearing a word we want our young people to become comfortable with early in life: ownership.
These are big conversations, but we believe our children are capable of having them.
Not every child needed to walk away understanding every financial concept presented. That was never the expectation. If one student left wondering how to start a business, another became curious about investing, and another went home asking their parents what it means to own property, then something important had already begun.
Curiosity is often the first step toward knowledge.
Our financial literacy and entrepreneurship experience deserves a deeper conversation of its own, and we will be sharing more about it in the next part of our PILLAR Summer Program series.
Higher education was another important part of our summer.
Our students had the opportunity to visit the University of Nebraska at Omaha, giving our middle and high school students a chance to experience a college campus before they are faced with making major decisions about life after graduation.
Instead of college being something distant that adults occasionally talk about, they were able to walk through the campus themselves.
They could look around. They could ask questions. They could learn about different careers and areas of study. They discovered that students can have flexibility in the classes they take and that choosing a path does not mean having your entire life figured out at eighteen. They learned about the different spaces and resources available on a university campus, including recreational facilities and gyms, and had an opportunity to better understand what college life can actually look like.
For our younger elementary-aged students, the experience looked a little different. Activities such as a scavenger hunt allowed them to explore the campus in an age-appropriate and enjoyable way.
The Real Purpose Behind PILLAR's Summer Program
PILLAR stands for Providing Integrity, Lifelong Learning, Access & Resilience.
This summer touched every part of that name, but one word was especially important to us: access.
Access is not simply opening a door. Sometimes, you first have to show a child that the door exists. We cannot predict where every child who participated in our summer program will eventually go in life. We cannot remove every obstacle they will encounter, and we cannot promise that every path will be easy. What we can do is expose them to possibilities.
We can teach financial concepts before they receive their first paycheck. We can introduce entrepreneurship before they are old enough to register a business. We can walk through universities before college applications are due. We can teach wellness before exhaustion and burnout become normal. We can put books in their hands, surround them with mentors, introduce them to new environments, and create spaces where asking questions is encouraged.
Most importantly, we can remind them that their current circumstances do not have to determine the boundaries of their future.
Our First Summer, But Certainly Not Our Last
This was PILLAR’s first summer program, and like anything being built with intention, we learned along the way. Plans changed. The weather changed. We adjusted. We listened. We kept moving.
But something beautiful happened in the process.
Our children showed up.
They explored new places. They asked questions. They learned about money. They talked about entrepreneurship and ownership. They walked through a university. They explored nature. They moved their bodies. They laughed. They learned alongside one another.
And somewhere between all of those experiences, possibilities were planted.
That is the kind of impact PILLAR wants to create.
We are not interested in simply filling a calendar with activities or collecting photographs to prove that an event happened. We want experiences to leave something behind.
Maybe it is a new interest. Maybe it is confidence. Maybe it is a question a child cannot stop thinking about. Maybe it is the first time they imagine themselves becoming an entrepreneur, attending college, owning property, investing, traveling, or entering a career they previously knew nothing about.
Sometimes changing the trajectory of a young person's life does not begin with one enormous moment. Sometimes it begins by showing them something they never knew was possible.That was the heart behind PILLAR's first summer program.
And we are only getting started.
Watch few Snippets here:
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