$232,000 in summer learning grants awarded

May 14—GOSHEN — Numerous Elkhart County organizations offering educational opportunities for students this summer will be able to significantly enhance those programs, thanks to a new round of grants being distributed by two local aid agencies.

According to Matt Puro, manager of marketing and administration for Crossroads United Way, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than a year of inconsistent schedules, children being unable to regularly attend school and the loss of in-person contact with peers and teachers.

As such, Crossroads United Way has partnered with the Community Foundation of Elkhart County to offer more than $232,000 in grants this spring to help organizations in Elkhart County help students this summer recover from some of those losses.

"We saw a need to give educational providers additional support as they work with families and students," said Amanda Jamison, senior program officer for the community foundation. "These grants will help assure the success of students across Elkhart County."

Mona Livingston, director of community impact for Crossroads United Way, offered a similar sentiment.

"Organizations were encouraged to work collaboratively to provide enriched experiences that will help students cover learning loss and build social emotional skills," Livingston said of the grant application process. "These programs will serve a diverse group of children and help working families overcome barriers."

Included among the 14 area organizations awarded grants this spring is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County, which will receive $30,000 for its annual summer learning programs.

"Basically what this is going to allow us to do is at our KidsCare sites, and all four of our Boys & Girls clubs, we're going to be able to do some summer education programs," said Jim Pinkerton, director of public relations for the organization. "What we're going to use this for is to do some academic enrichment programs, hands-on learning activities, STEM programs, and some reading support for kids who are going to summer school to kind of make up some of the deficit that was lost over this last year due to COVID.

"And then we're going to also use it to do some high-yield activities, and by that I mean we'll take some ordinary summer games and add a learning component to them," Pinkerton added of the plan. "So, it's kind of taking the fun time of summer activities, but also adding a learning component to them."

According to Pinkerton, the organization currently has clubs in Goshen, Elkhart, Nappanee and Middlebury, and the expanded summer programs will be open to all students involved in those clubs as well as the organization's various KidsCare sites throughout the county.

"One of the things that we focus on at the Boys & Girls Clubs is making sure that our members have academic success," Pinkerton said. "So, any time that there could be an issue like what we experienced with COVID, we want to make sure that we're lifting them up and helping them reach their full potential. We have really tried to pivot over the last year to make sure that we're doing those types of things, that we're connecting with these kids and that they're getting what they need to be successful. So, we're very grateful that The United Way and the Community Foundation awarded us this grant. We think it's going to be something that will be very powerful and impactful for the lives that it touches."

Also awarded a grant this spring is the newly renovated Goshen Theater, which received $3,000 for its annual Drama Club Summer Program.

"This will be our second year hosting the drama club," said Amber Burgess, managing director of the Goshen Theater. "Last year, for 2020, we were virtual, which was challenging. It's a three-week program, and it's designed to sort of increase students' learning in a bunch of different disciplines through the delightful joy of theater arts.

"So, we teach them about history, writing, team-building, we do design elements for the students, they learn public speaking, they dance and sing every day," Burgess added of the club, which this year is set to run from June 28 to July 17. "One of the things that I think is the most important right now is that we really are creating a great environment for social and emotional learning for them, and that's such a difficult thing during the pandemic. So, it's even more important than it was when we started out back in 2019 designing the program."

According to Burgess, one of the biggest hurdles in promoting the club has been trying to get word out about the new program without a dedicated marketing budget, something she said has become increasingly important over the past year due to the loss of her typical, in-person marketing opportunities such as classroom visits and meet-and-greets.

So, when she heard about the summer education grants being offered through the United Way/Community Foundation partnership, she said she jumped at the chance to apply.

"The purpose of the grants is right in our wheelhouse, which was music to my ears," Burgess said of the opportunity. "They wanted to compensate for lost emotional and social learning that had been diminished by the online learning environment from the past school year, and that's what we do. That was already our objective. So, I was like, there's a natural sort of relationship here that I can see.

"So, I saw that those grant opportunities were available, and I thought, 'You know what would be great is if we could try to do some targeted marketing,'" she added of the process. "So, I put a little budget together to see what it would cost on our side, and applied for a modest grant," "I think for us, we just really needed to get the word out. We already had great support from Goshen Noon Kiwanis. We already had a few students. But we really wanted to make certain that this program this year was moving in the correct direction, and that we had a student population that was representative of the student population in the Goshen elementary and middle schools."

Utilizing the $3,000 grant, Burgess said she plans to work with a local translator to translate the clubs fliers and posters into Spanish. She has also been working with the local advertising firm Eyedart Creative Studio to create some media and marketing that will specifically target those students she feels would be a great fit for the drama club.

"So, we actually started doing some of that marketing on Monday, and it'll be like a continual process over the next four or five weeks," she said of the plan. "But even in just those few days, we've already had four registrations since those targeted posts have started going out. So, it's already working, which is so exciting."

OTHER GRANT RECIPIENTS

In addition to the Boys & Girls Clubs and the Goshen Theater, other area organizations set to receive grants this spring include:

—Center for Community Justice, A Restorative Summer with CCJ — $10,064

—E3 Robotics Center, Summer STEM Camps — $20,000

—Elkhart Education Foundation, Summerscape — $25,000

—Elkhart Public Library, Free Books to Feed Minds — $6,500

—Five Star Life, Collaborative Summer Programming — $16,250

—Goshen College, Creative Kids Camp — $50,000

—Goshen Public Library, Nourishing Bodies & Nurturing Minds — $7,000

—Jefferson Community Church, LYNC — $25,000

—Ryan's Place, Camp Hope and Teen Journaling Summer Program — $7,390

—uLEAD, Elkhart Parks Adventure Camp — $2,485

—Woodlawn Nature Council, Summer Learning Immersion — $5,000

—Youth For Christ of Elkhart County, Lifeline Summer Camp — $25,000

The total amount in grants to be awarded through the partnership this spring comes to $232,689.

John Kline can be reached at john.kline@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240315. Follow John on Twitter @jkline_TGN.