Rotary supports literacy!
Posted
on May 22, 2012
Sooke Rotarian Alex Nagy presents Heather Walsh with a cheque for $2,000, in support of a literacy and math summer camp
The Rotary Club of Sooke is proud to be able to support this literacy project at the Edward Milne Community School.
Information from the project proposal: The project is a literacy and math summer camp aimed at meeting the educational and social needs of Sooke children in grades 1-3 who are demonstrating difficulty in core areas. A free 4-week day camp for referred students, our project is designed to address the widening achievement gap between students who are learning at higher levels and those who are not yet meeting expectations in the areas of literacy and math. Our project is designed to help kids improved their reading, writing, math and language skills while having fun!
Students on the lower end of the achievement scale are often also from vulnerable families. Reading fall-off over the summer months is common among all income levels but the problem is amplified for children whose families do not have the means to enroll them in recreation programs or take them on summer holidays, as these experiences help to expand vocabulary and broaden children’s learning opportunities. Research has shown that there is a gap in the level of achievement between children from families in the lower socio-economic strata and children from higher socio-economic strata; the gap begins in the early grades and grows year after year, attributable to the access and availability of programs to stimulate a child’s learning over the summer months. Our project aims to reduce this achievement gap; it will be free to all participants based on referral by their classroom teacher.
Through this program, students deemed at-risk for literacy and math difficulties at the end of grades one, two and three will receive targeted intervention in these subjects during the morning, by rotating through four literacy centers and participating in innovating math
instruction supported by PIMS (Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences). The afternoons are devoted to recreation and skill-building through field trips and activities. Field trips will include the Marine centre in Sidney, the bug zoo, the Sooke Museum, SEAPARC, the Salmon Hatchery, Fire Hall, community gardens and many local outdoor locations to explore tidal pools and the forest. Daily healthy lunches and snacks will be provided.
Pictured:
Information from the project proposal: The project is a literacy and math summer camp aimed at meeting the educational and social needs of Sooke children in grades 1-3 who are demonstrating difficulty in core areas. A free 4-week day camp for referred students, our project is designed to address the widening achievement gap between students who are learning at higher levels and those who are not yet meeting expectations in the areas of literacy and math. Our project is designed to help kids improved their reading, writing, math and language skills while having fun!
Students on the lower end of the achievement scale are often also from vulnerable families. Reading fall-off over the summer months is common among all income levels but the problem is amplified for children whose families do not have the means to enroll them in recreation programs or take them on summer holidays, as these experiences help to expand vocabulary and broaden children’s learning opportunities. Research has shown that there is a gap in the level of achievement between children from families in the lower socio-economic strata and children from higher socio-economic strata; the gap begins in the early grades and grows year after year, attributable to the access and availability of programs to stimulate a child’s learning over the summer months. Our project aims to reduce this achievement gap; it will be free to all participants based on referral by their classroom teacher.
Through this program, students deemed at-risk for literacy and math difficulties at the end of grades one, two and three will receive targeted intervention in these subjects during the morning, by rotating through four literacy centers and participating in innovating math
instruction supported by PIMS (Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences). The afternoons are devoted to recreation and skill-building through field trips and activities. Field trips will include the Marine centre in Sidney, the bug zoo, the Sooke Museum, SEAPARC, the Salmon Hatchery, Fire Hall, community gardens and many local outdoor locations to explore tidal pools and the forest. Daily healthy lunches and snacks will be provided.
Pictured:
Heather Walsh, Community School Coordinator; Ali Comber, "Fun Coordinator" at the Play and Learn Camp; Alex Nagy, Rotary Club of Sooke
