Columbia, SC – State Superintendent of Education Molly M. Spearman announces that 14 school districts and organizations will receive $700,000 through the Summer Reading Camp Community Partnership Grant.
“I am very excited about the increased literacy opportunities this grant will create,” said Spearman. “This is one way we’re working to stop summer reading loss and provide much-needed help to students. It will be a great way to assist them over the summer with their reading and ensure they hit the ground running when school starts in August,” concluded Spearman.
The purpose of the Summer Reading Camp Community Partnership Grant is to expand the existing summer reading camps, which provide elementary school students who are significantly below grade-level reading proficiency with the opportunity to receive quality, intensive instructional services. For students to benefit from the summer program, they must attend regularly and be engaged in instructional and hands-on learning experiences. Grant sites strategize ways to increase consistent student attendance through collaborative partnerships between local community organizations and school districts.
Here are the Summer Reading Camp Community Partnership Grant Recipients:
|
Award
|
School District
|
Community Partner(s)
|
|
$42,000
|
Aiken
|
The Salvation Army Nancy Moore-Thurmond Boys and Girls Club
|
|
$16,000
|
Barnwell 45
|
Barnwell County Family YMCA; Barnwell Public Library
|
|
$45,000
|
Clarendon 2
|
Clemson Extension; Harvin Clarendon County Library; MadScience of Myrtle Beach
|
|
$70,000
|
Darlington
|
YMCA of Upper Pee Dee; Coker College
|
|
$70,000
|
Florence 3
|
Lake City Housing Authority; Town of Scranton; Coward Community Center; St. John United Methodist Church; Olanta Public Library; Mt. Beulah United Methodist Church; Nazareth United Methodist Church; Savannah Grove Freewill Baptist Church; Wesley United Methodist Church
|
|
$60,000
|
Greenville
|
Greenville YMCA; LiveWell Greenville; Roper Mountain Science Center; Money Cents for Kids LLC; SC Children's Theatre;
|
|
$29,000
|
Greenwood 51
|
Greenwood YMCA
|
|
$50,000
|
Kershaw
|
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands; Kershaw County Department of Parks and Recreation
|
|
$50,000
|
Laurens 55
|
Greater Laurens Family YMCA; Laurens County Public Library; Joe R. Adair Outdoor Education
|
|
$60,000
|
McCormick
|
McCormick County Library; McCormick Arts Council at the Keturah (MACK); McCormick County First Steps
|
|
$23,000
|
Saluda
|
Clemson Cooperative Extension Office / Saluda County 4H
|
|
$70,000
|
Pickens
|
United Way of Pickens County (fiscal agent); YMCA of Pickens County
|
|
$70,000
|
Williamsburg
|
Black River United Way; Low Country Food Bank
|
|
$45,000
|
York 1
|
Kings Mountain National Military Park; York County Culture and Heritage Museums; Bricks 4 Kidz
|
The South Carolina General Assembly passed Proviso 1.67 of the Appropriations Act of 2015–16 in support of “Summer Reading Camps.” Subsection (2) of the proviso states:
$700,000 [shall be] allocated to the [S.C. Department of Education] to provide grants to support community partnerships whereby community organizations would collaborate with local school districts to provide after school programs or summer reading camps that utilize volunteers, mentors or tutors to provide instructional support to struggling readers in elementary schools that have a poverty index of fifty percent or greater. The Education Oversight Committee will document and evaluate the partnerships and the impact of the partnerships on student academic success and make recommendations on the characteristics of effective partnerships and on methods of duplicating effective partnerships throughout the state…. (Act No. 91, 2015 S.C. Acts, Proviso 1.67).
Learn more by checking out our website’s section on Read to Succeed.
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