This summer will be anything but usual. The stay at home order since mid-March has elevated anxieties about learning loss, “ summer slide ,” ² and children’s access to food across the community. In response educators and their partners are taking action:    

Preschool Literacy - The Early Childhood Resource Center and the Great Start for Great Futures Coalition are partnering to create literacy kits for preschool children and their families that help build  key skills needed for school readiness. Books will also be included with the kits – thanks to donations from students in North Canton, Perry and Plain.

Sign-up information for the  Dolly Parton Imagination Library program will be given to families with children ages 0-5. Participants are mailed a book each month until they reach age 5. A ccording to Mary Ellen Icaza, CEO & Executive Director of the Stark Library, there is also funding available to  enroll students in the  Ohio Imagination Library (and the Library  continues to seek donations for the program).

Stark Libraries  will be kicking off a virtual Summer Reading Challenge  on June 8. There will be an activity tracker that families can print.

K-12 School Districts  are investigating programs similar to  Kids Read Now  that encourage and support summer reading with engagement components. Books and activity sheets are mailed to the students and include opportunities for family interactions.

Virtual Camps   –  TomTod Ideas  will be  offering a slate of virtual camps during the month of July. Each camp will last three weeks and will include a synchronous and asynchronous experiences - including both online and offline activities. Design challenge kits will be sent to the students’ homes before the virtual meetings begin.

As Walt Disney said:  “Times and conditions chang e so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.”  Thank you to our education leaders and community partners who swiftly adjust to meet the needs of our students, families and our community’s future.

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1 https://ohioimaginationlibrary.org/early-literacy-matters

2 Summer slide is the tendency for students, especially those from low-income families, to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year. See: https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/summerslide  

Books and Meals – Like many outreach agencies, Bridge Point Community Services will be delivering summer meals to families. In a collaborative effort with Goodwill Industries, age-appropriate books for the children and youth will also be included in those deliveries.

Summer Meals

Although school district leaders are reworking their budgets after Ohio’s recent financial challenges required cuts, they continue developing plans to provide summer meals for children. Summer plans will shift to a “grab ‘n go” method.