The sun beats down as children from Sweetbriar Child Development Center file outside to the playground. The students, ranging in age from 18 months to five-years-old, scurry to the fence line instead of onto the playscape. Fighting for refuge from the sun’s rays, those who do not fit in the sliver of shade, provided by large oak tree branches that sag over the black iron fence, huddle under the play structure. This routine has been on repeat twice a day for more than two summers. “We don’t want to go outside, it’s too hot,” is their rally cry. It’s something we can all relate to in the Texas summer heat. According to an Austin American Statesman article, July in Austin was a scorcher. With 17 triple-digit days on record, the average temperature for the month of July came in just shy of 100 at 99 degrees. The last two weeks have been particularly brutal, with all 14 days in the triple digits. “One afternoon we came to pick up our son,” Joshua Mauk, Sweetbriar parent shared “and he was huddled under the play structure because it was really hot and that was the only shade available.” Something had to change but parents, teachers and even the Center Director alike did not know where to begin. The Background and Beginning Sweetbriar Child Development Center is located in the 78744 neighborhood that Go Austin Vamos Austin (GAVA), a resident-led coalition focused on community health and well-being, […]
Read MoreThe Austin Summer Survival Guide, and Not the One You Would Think…
This is not your average summer survival guide. I am not here to talk about Float Fest or Amy’s Ice Cream. While both are great summer staples, the purpose of this survival guide is to provide our community with a list of resources that will make sure everyone gets the best out of their summer vacation. Remember that you can call 2-1-1 24/7 for community information and resources. Connect with a compassionate call specialist, like Arnoldo who has been on staff for more than six years. “2-1-1 is the most effective way of getting resources out into the community.” Arnoldo, 2-1-1 Call Specialist said. “It is a gathering of many people, many facets, that create one big jewel.” STAY FED From breakfast to lunch to after-school snack, many kids in Austin rely on school meal programs. Often times the meals they are fed at school, are the only thing they will eat all day. According to Feeding America and the Community Advancement Network Dashboard for Travis County, 25 percent of children in Travis County are food insecure. That means more than 63,000 kids in Austin often go hungry when school is out. Thankfully, through the Summer Food Service Program, Austin ISD will continue to serve FREE breakfast and lunch to local children and teens ages 18 and younger. Your child can get FREE meals even if they don’t attend AISD, regardless of economic status. No registration or identification is required. To access FREE summer […]
Read MoreSummer Camp Kicks Off
This summer, United Way For Greater Austin is funding a six-week blended enrichment program for middle school students in Manor. In partnership with Bank of America, a special cohort of incoming 9th graders will concentrate on career readiness and financial literacy as they prepare for high school. Students will not only learn about careers in the classroom, but will take weekly field trips to various businesses and organizations to learn about different career paths from the employees working in each field. Last week, the summer program kicked off with students visiting the state capitol to learn more about the political sector. The students took a tour of the capitol to learn more about the history of the building and Texas government. They learned some interesting facts when visiting the State Senate room, like how the Senate does not have a limit for debate which can cause a filibuster. (The longest filibuster in Texas happened in 1977 when a representative talked for 43 hours!) After the tour, students met with Miguel Liscano and Curtis Smith to learn about their career paths and experiences working in the capitol. Curtis Smith works as the Chief of Staff for Representative Terry Canales from District 40, and Miguel Liscano who works as the Committee Director for the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence for Representative Abel Herrero of District 34. Miguel and Curtis discussed how they started their careers through internships, working with a business or organization for a semester or summer to get both educational and real life experience in different fields. The […]
Read MoreUWATX Partners with Colin’s Hope to Promote Water Safety
Colin’s Hope is an organization that educates families and children about water safety in efforts to prevent children from drowning. This work is especially important during summer, when pools and water parks are filled with kids. United Way for Greater Austin partnered with Colin’s Hope to distribute water safety cards to more than 3,200 families. Laura Olson of UWATX’s Success By 6 program also connected Colin’s Hope with early childhood organizations that primarily serve families with children under the age of 5 to expand the reach of the messaging. In addition to distributing water safety cards, United Way for Greater Austin provided support by: Identifying partners that could distribute the Colin’s Hope Water Safety Quiz to families with young children Connecting Colin’s Hope to partners that would assist in sharing water safety awareness information, including Child’s Inc., KLRU, the Literacy Coalition and the AISD Early Childhood program Offered to recruit volunteers to aid in distribution of water safety cards via Hands On Central Texas Will assist in any future Spanish translations of Colin’s Hope material Developing a next level of outreach and education for summer camp providers/staff in low-income communities Will create a 2017 outreach plan with Colin’s Hope to educate even more families next year We are proud to partner with Colin’s Hope to keep Austin’s children safe this summer!
Read MoreThe Effects of Summer Learning Loss on Low-Income Students
Students and parents alike usually view summer as a time for well-deserved relaxation and a break from learning. However, this break from learning can have consequences that are detrimental to students during the following school year and beyond. More than half of the achievement gap between low- and med/high-income students is due to unequal access to high-quality summer learning opportunities. Low-income students often can’t afford the summer camps, intensive programming or worldly vacations that their more affluent peers attend, and often spend their summers watching TV or babysitting their siblings. Most students lose about two months of mathematical computation skills over the summer. Low-income students also lose more than two months in reading achievement, while their mid/higher-income peers actually make slight gains. This achievement gap has more and more of an effect on students as they complete more schooling. These summer knowledge losses compound so greatly that it has even been identified as part of the reason that low-income kids are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (SummerLearning.org). Not only do students lose knowledge, many also gain unhealthy amounts of weight during the summer due to a lack of balanced meals at home and lack of exercise they normally get from recess, organized sports or gym class. Students gain weight on average two to three times faster than they do during the school year (Edutopia.org). As you can see, it’s important in many aspects of a child’s life to have access during the summer to programs […]
Read MoreSummer Learning Day 2015
Many adults still vividly recall their time at summer camp: canoeing, arts & crafts, field day and all of the social aspects that make summer camp such an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, these enriching programs are often reserved for middle to upper class students, as many low-income students are unable to participate due to high cost, family obligations, lack of knowledge of high quality programs or other barriers. When students are unable to access summer learning opportunities, they lose out on much more than fun. Researchers from John Hopkins estimate that roughly two-thirds of the achievement gap between low-income and higher-income students in the ninth grade is a result of unequal access to summer learning opportunities during elementary school. Low-income students lose an average of more than two months of reading achievement, while middle and high-income students actually improve their reading skills over the summer, according to the same study. This lost time contributes to the lower high school graduation rates among low-income students, which in turn sets many children up for lifetimes of economic hardship. Additionally, summer learning opportunities have been linked to increases in self-esteem, self-confidence and motivation, meaning low-income students have fewer opportunities to develop these crucial soft skills. Central Texas educators are doing their part to work to close this gap. In Austin, there are currently 64 summer programs hosted by 60 different organizations dedicated to expanding access to summer learning opportunities. These programs have enrolled over 32,000 youth and represent the combined efforts of school districts, […]
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