United Way Logo
Search
Search
Menu
Newsletter
Keep Me Informed! Sign up for updates from United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Join Our Mailing List
Events
News
Donate
Search for:
See The Impact
Education
Food Access
Healthy Aging
Emergency Services
Results
United Way Partners
Take Action
Give
Advocate
Volunteer
Racial Justice and Equity
COVID-19
Find Resources
Resource Center
For Individuals
For Corporations
For Campaign Coordinators
For Nonprofits
For Community Schools
Media Center
Learn About United Way
100th Anniversary
What We Do
Why We Do It
How We Do It
Who We Are
Financial Reports and Policies
Investments
Search for:
News
Home
|
News
|
September 2018
|
Lehigh Valley Recognized for Commitment to High-Quality Summer Learning
Lehigh Valley Recognized for Commitment to High-Quality Summer Learning
Published: September 25, 2018
Allentown, PA –
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has recognized the Lehigh Valley Summer Learning Coalition, led by United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV), as a Bright Spot community for 2018.
“The GLR Campaign uses Bright Spots to capture the most inspiring and promising work underway in communities, schools and programs across the country. We’re honored with this national recognition, because it really highlights how our community works collaboratively to enhance summer learning experiences for the kids who need them most,” said Beth Tomlinson, Director, Education, UWGLV.
Launched in 2015, the Lehigh Valley Summer Learning Coalition aims to raise community- level awareness about the importance of summer learning, increase access to high-quality summer learning opportunities for low-income youth and increase the quality of existing summer learning programs throughout the region.
“Da Vinci Science Center has been proud to participate in this initiative for the past three years, providing integrated STEM and literacy programs for students in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. United Way has provided key data, awareness initiatives and opportunities to collaborate that have transformed our team’s thinking about summer and driven innovation in our programming. Our STEM Summer Learning programs are fun, have a unique co-teaching model and are based on engaging topics like insects and robotics. Topics like these engage kids in authentic reading and writing activities needed to read on grade level and foster a lifelong love for STEM and literacy. These programs have reversed learning loss for over 100 kids and counting,” said Karen Knecht, Director of Education, Da Vinci Science Center.
The coalition includes representatives from the arts and cultural community, athletics, STEM providers, city recreation departments, police departments, early childhood providers, higher education institutions, community centers, school districts, faith-based community, corporate sponsors, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs.
“Access to high-quality summer learning can prevent learning loss, which is especially prevalent among kids from low-income backgrounds. That’s why strengthening the community’s summer learning opportunities is a key strategy in our regional campaign for grade-level reading success
Lehigh Valley Reads
, which aims to ensure that all kids can read on grade level by 2025,” said Jill Pereira, Vice President, Education, UWGLV.
Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and career success, because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” National tests show that two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders (four-fifths of whom are from low-income families) are not reading proficiently. Students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives.
GLR Bright Spots promote peer exchange and peer learning by offering concise, yet meaningful stories about the specific actions taken by Network communities that contribute to success and help drive improvement. Bright Spots are designed to enable communities to “steal shamelessly and share seamlessly” with colleagues across the country who are generating solutions to similar challenges. This year’s Bright Spots focused broadly on highlighting innovative approaches and promising strategies for achieving bigger outcomes, larger impact and more sustainable scale.
“These Bright Spots are doing what it takes to change the trajectory of children’s lives,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. “We applaud them for taking up the challenge to increase reading proficiency and improve the overall academic achievement of children in low-income families through innovative means.”
Comments
Blog post currently doesn't have any comments.
Post archive
January 2023(
4
)
December 2022(
7
)
November 2022(
4
)
October 2022(
7
)
September 2022(
6
)
August 2022(
5
)
July 2022(
6
)
June 2022(
9
)
May 2022(
3
)
April 2022(
3
)
March 2022(
9
)
February 2022(
2
)
January 2022(
5
)
December 2021(
9
)
November 2021(
7
)
October 2021(
4
)
September 2021(
6
)
August 2021(
5
)
July 2021(
9
)
June 2021(
7
)
May 2021(
2
)
April 2021(
9
)
March 2021(
7
)
February 2021(
3
)
January 2021(
4
)
December 2020(
5
)
November 2020(
6
)
October 2020(
6
)
September 2020(
5
)
August 2020(
7
)
July 2020(
6
)
June 2020(
5
)
May 2020(
3
)
April 2020(
2
)
March 2020(
3
)
February 2020(
3
)
January 2020(
3
)
December 2019(
6
)
November 2019(
11
)
October 2019(
3
)
September 2019(
7
)
August 2019(
9
)
July 2019(
1
)
June 2019(
2
)
May 2019(
8
)
April 2019(
5
)
March 2019(
4
)
February 2019(
7
)
January 2019(
4
)
December 2018(
2
)
November 2018(
3
)
October 2018(
3
)
September 2018(
10
)
August 2018(
5
)
July 2018(
3
)
June 2018(
10
)
May 2018(
4
)
April 2018(
5
)
March 2018(
10
)
February 2018(
3
)
January 2018(
4
)
December 2017(
5
)
November 2017(
3
)
October 2017(
3
)
September 2017(
2
)
August 2017(
5
)
July 2017 (
4
)
June 2017(
3
)
May 2017(
9
)
April 2017(
4
)
March 2017(
8
)
February 2017(
12
)
January 2017(
8
)
December 2016(
11
)
November 2016 (
19
)
October 2016(
15
)
September 2016 (
5
)
August 2016(
5
)
July 2016(
6
)
June 2016(
9
)
May 2016 (
6
)
April 2016(
7
)
March 2016(
9
)
February 2016(
12
)
January 2016(
3
)
December 2015(
9
)
November 2015(
11
)
October 2015(
3
)
September 2015(
4
)
August 2015 (
1
)
July 2015 (
1
)
June 2015(
4
)
May 2015(
5
)
April 2015 (
2
)
March 2015(
5
)
February 2015(
6
)
January 2015(
2
)
December 2014(
5
)
November 2014(
4
)
October 2014(
4
)
September 2014(
8
)
August 2014(
9
)
July 2014(
3
)
June 2014(
4
)
May 2014(
5
)
April 2014(
4
)
March 2014(
7
)
February 2014(
5
)
January 2014(
4
)
Share this Article
Tweet
Show me how my $$ Makes A Difference
Please insert a dollar amount below
$
could help United Way provide:
Make a donation today