📣 Attention, campers. Summer is here. | Morning Newsletter

With the forecast calling for partial clouds and temperatures in the 80s, summerlike heat should kick off the week.

It’s also time for camp, and the number of kids headed to overnight camps is on the rise — as pandemic concerns continue to ease and parents urge children to stay off screens. 🔒

And data from Philly shows more new moms are dying in the weeks after giving birth, with a disproportionate number being mothers of color.

Finally, we have the latest in the investigation of a weekend fire and building collapse in Kensington that killed a firefighter and injured others.

If you see this 🔒 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

With COVID-19 case rates continuing to decline and parents having flashbacks to when the pandemic was at its apex, sending children away to overnight camps appears to be at the top of so many parents’ wish list.

“We’re hearing that traditional day and overnight camps are definitely seeing strong demand,” said Tom Rosenberg, president and chief executive officer of the American Camp Association. That demand is from “new families that never considered camp, families that have gone to camp, all of it.”

In a typical year, about 26 million children attend more than 15,000 camps, according to the American Camp Association, but only about 18% of overnight camps and 60% of day camps were able to operate in 2020 due to the virus and related restrictions.

In a push to get kids who were stuck inside of the house out, the latest surge is also an effort to get many of these kids off screens, something that most summer camps deliberately eschew and many suggest improves children’s mental health.

Our reporter Erin McCarthy explores the rise of the overnight camp and more of what parents, kids, and experts are saying about it. 🔒

Maternal mortality. Two words that should never be paired. Yet, in the weeks and months after giving birth, specifically when the focus shifts to the needs of the newborn, many mothers are experiencing complications, some resulting in death.

🤱 The numbers: In Philly, where the maternal mortality rate exceeds the national average, more than half of the 110 pregnancy-associated deaths between 2013 and 2018 occurred at least six weeks after birth. Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year showed maternal mortality continued to rise between 2018 and 2020 — with the gap between Black and white patients widening.

🤱 The root cause: Racial inequity, poverty, and lack of access to health services all contribute to maternal mortality in the year after birth. Addressing what happens to a family when they leave the hospital is the only way to keep more mothers from dying, public health leaders say.

🤱 What experts are saying: “The societal impact of mothers dying is important and deep. They’re leaving families and children behind. The generational impact of that is immense,” said Aasta Mehta, the medical officer for women’s health at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and a chair of the city’s maternal mortality review committee.

Our reporter Sarah Gantz delivers this story with a look at what’s being done to look after new moms, postpartum.

Expect new Philly schools superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. to be very busy in his first 100 days in office. On Thursday, Watlington announced a plan that will eventually guide his overall strategic vision to improve schools across a variety of sectors over the next five years. Today’s question: Do you know how many listening sessions Watlington has planned over the next 100 days? Take a guess and find the answer here.

a. 50

b. 60

c. 70

d. 80

👋🏽 Wondering: What Sister Carol Jean Vale plans to do in her new chapter as she prepares for retirement from her 30-year career at Chestnut Hill College.

👀 Watching: How the relationship between Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Pa. Sen. Sharif Street will play out with Street being named chair of Pa.’s Democratic Party despite Shapiro’s backing of Street’s opponent.

📚Reading: What the best hope is for curing America’s gun violence epidemic and why some suggest it’s not more legislation.

What Philly neighborhood is this?

🚢 + 💰 + 👴D = ?

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly.

Here’s hoping your week gets off right. Thanks for starting it with The Inquirer. ✌️