Our educational support program helps students who are significantly behind in their classes and struggling with literacy skills. This program assists both teachers and students at a local public elementary school by providing additional resources to help struggling kids reach the standard level of education for their grade. These resources include a teacher from Casita who dedicates time and materials to meet the children at their current level and help them make improvements. We also provide a healthy snack for the children to ensure they get the essential nutrients needed to concentrate.
Last year, we tutored 2nd through 5th grade students, focusing on their literacy skills. This year, we are once again concentrating on improving literacy in 4th and 5th graders—students whose education was severely impacted by the pandemic and who will soon be entering secondary school. Our goal is to get them to the reading level they need to successfully start 6th grade. There are 45 kids participating in the program.
Teachers have identified problems such as slow reading and poor spelling in the students we tutor. For the first time this year, we conducted an assessment at the beginning of the program, along with midyear and end-of-year follow-ups, to understand where the gaps are and how the students are progressing.
Several students who participated last year need help again this year, but they have shown improvement. About 10 kids have since placed out of the educational support program because they reached an appropriate reading level. When a student finishes the program, it allows other struggling students to begin. In the future, we may start tutoring younger grades again.
Feedback frequently highlights how much the snack helps. At the school, snacks and lunches are available for purchase, but some kids don’t come to school with extra money and go for several hours without a meal. Teachers, parents, and kids themselves have said that the snack has noticeably improved students’ performance and concentration.
After two years, our pilot project is still going strong. We continue to recognize a need for additional support in public schools to keep children motivated and capable of succeeding in their education.
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