What a Buck a Day can do
October 6, 2010 | Community News | Archive 2010
An innovative program creating opportunities for inner city youth to succeed in school and life, echoes age old wisdom: it takes a village to raise a child.
Six years ago, two retired educators, Strini Reddy and Karen Botting, took on the case of low graduation rates in Winnipeg's inner city. They set out to solve the issue of summer learning loss, the tendency for children to lose literacy and numeracy skills during the break.
"These children often fall further behind over the long summer period because their families cannot provide them with a range of stimulating activities," says Reddy.
"Program fees, location and transportation all serve as powerful barriers. Reading abilities and math skills suffer in particular, widening the gap between them and their peers."
The duo developed a framework for the Summer Learning Enrichment Program. The goal was not only to create learning opportunities for inner-city kids, but to do so in a fun and engaging way.
"We didn't want children to feel like they were going back to school in the summer," says Reddy. "We wanted to do something in a camp-like environment but at the same time make no apologies for the fact that we were going to address the issue of academics."
Launched in 2005, the program runs daily for five weeks during July and August.
Children start with a healthy breakfast followed by two hours of math and science activities. After lunch (and recess) students participate in sports, arts, community walks, and field trips which have included visits to the Manitoba Museum, Children's Museum, and University of Winnipeg science labs.
"Children are encouraged to find out what's in their community," says Reddy. "It's important for the kids to see the community as a positive place."
Exploring the neighbourhood and conducting experiments, the students likened themselves to the characters on the popular television show CSI. They nicknamed the program in its honour and changed the acronym to Community Schools Investigators. The name stuck.
As much as the program is structured for children, Reddy says parental involvement has been an important element in the program's success. Staff actively build a rapport with parents and invite them to family literacy events.
They're also invited to a free session for advice on investing the $400 Bright Futures bursary students receive if they complete the program with 70% participation. Last year nearly 340 children qualified and it's expected the number will increase in 2010. "We're not only able to build the assets of the parents in financial matters, but strengthen the parents' commitment to their children's long-term education," says Reddy.
The assets aren't just financial. Parents report that kids are reading at home. Language and math tests show, with few exceptions, no evidence of summer learning loss, some kids actually improving. And when they return to school in September, teachers say CSI kids are more focused and ready to learn.
Since the program's launch, the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, a United Way agency partner with a mandate to incubate new initiatives, has provided financial oversight and administrative support. It's given Reddy and Botting time to build support and find a permanent home.
"We bided our time and that worked wonderfully because in the meantime United Way came on board as well as private donors."
Today the program represents a growing partnership between government, schools, universities, community agencies, residents and parents.
"Anybody we've sat down with sees how this fits in the total plan of advancing the agenda of getting our children a good education."
It's a holistic model of education which echoes the old adage: it takes a village to raise a child.
"What we're trying to do here is create the kind of village that is capable of raising the child. We create partnerships and links. We make sure we're working in collaboration with other agencies and programs."
Agencies like Boys and Girls Clubs, with support from United Way, provide a safe, supportive place where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships and develop confidence and skills for life. Seeing as clubs were already located in some CSI schools, Reddy says it was natural for them to organize recreation activities for the kids.
That relationship will grow this year. Boys and Girls Clubs has become a permanent home for CSI and will oversee its expansion to two new sites, and a total capacity of 600 children.
Concluding his two-year term as president of the youth-serving organization, it's a homecoming of sorts for Reddy.
"While this is a significant addition to our work, the goals of the CSI program fit very well with the mandate of the Boys and Girls Club. Without the Social Planning Council and United Way we'd never have got this program to where it is. And now we are doubly fortunate because we have an agency that will maintain that same high level of service for these children and families."
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