Back To School in the Skagit Valley:
Thanks to our partner organizations, students across Skagit County continued their learning over the summer and are prepared to succeed in school this fall.
Along with virtual learning support for families, Foundation for Academic Endeavors (FAE)'s main program is a 5-week Summer Academy that Skagit Community Foundation supported with a grant in May and an on-site visit in July. The FAE Summer Academy is 8am-2pm 5 days a week for 5 weeks and served about 250 students this year. School buses are chartered for the program to pick up students from across the county. Every classroom has at least one bilingual teacher or assistant teacher, and multiple staff are trilingual. The actual cost per student is about $1,800- but thanks to donations and grants from generous supporters and donors, FAE offers the entire five-week program to families for just $60 per child and a maximum of $150 per family with multiple children. Certified teachers and college fellows (who are studying to be teachers), incorporate literacy and reading into a curriculum based on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) for students starting at age 3 to freshmen in high school.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Skagit County
This summer, the primary goal at all nine Boys & Girls Club locations was to make sure kids were smiling, not an easy feat when masks cover them up. Staff at the Clubs wrapped up more than 75 weeks of serving youth nearly 12 hours a day, five days a week. Keeping things fresh and engaging for 4,500+ hours is not easy, but with careful planning during the spring, they made it happen. Social-emotional learning activities were a big emphasis to continue supporting Club members as they navigate the challenges and obstacles presented by the pandemic - and they have demonstrated amazing resiliency. Academic supports, which occur every summer, were bolstered with supplemental enrichment activities designed so students wouldn't realize they were learning, and feel their Club was just an extension of the school day and year. With one summer during Covid-19 under their belt, staff did an amazing job of finding ways to conduct programs and activities safely, with the most stringent of protocols, but also infuse as much of a traditional summer camp experience as possible. Perhaps the greatest highlights of the summer programs were the "Stay Trips" like a visit from the Reptile Man, and the reintroduction of volunteers sharing their passions with Club kids. In the end, smiles were plentiful, and easily recognizable, even behind a mask.
Children's Museum of Skagit County
Shortly after reopening the Children's Museum of Skagit County (CMSC) in early June, after a 13-month closure, Summer Camps for 2021 were developed. CMSC held STEAM-themed camps in two age ranges. Each week focused on one aspect of STEAM- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Each camp included an emphasis on developing critical learning skills through playing games related to the camps, art projects, and experiments. The activities were engaging which led to children using their imaginations, increasing their natural curiosity, and exploration and discovery skills with experiments and projects. They also had time to play in the museum.
In addition to summer camps, CMSC continued to support learning with Activity Kits which were distributed in several ways. Through the Help Me Grow-Skagit Family Resource Center educational materials, books, plus Art Kits were provided to hundreds of children. Other kits were distributed during a variety of Skagit County Public Health Dept. pop-up vaccination events and during Mobile Migrant Health Clinic events. Others were provided either by delivery to social service organizations or via recipients through CMSC's Scholarship Fund.
For the thousands of children and families who have visited the museum since the reopening, their ability to experience the hands-on exhibits, create in the art studio, put on costumes and put on a play or show in the theater, play music in the studio, be a doctor, dentist, architect, designer, banker, or run a restaurant have given them countless opportunities to engage in play, which is how children learn. They can imagine future careers by driving the truck, operating the range, taking a cruise on a tugboat, operate tools in the construction exhibit, and so much more. Literacy-based experiences abound throughout the museum, in the Reading Area, and in the STEAM lane. The exhibits are designed for children of all ages!
Give us a call to learn more about how you can support a cause you care about,
like preventing local students' summer learning loss.
We are here to support your ideas for the community.
|
