United Way Profile: The Learning Trail

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Editor’s note: As part of the News + Record’s commitment to the community, we’re partnering with the United Way of Chatham County to help provide insight into the work of the agencies the program helps fund with a series of local agency profiles; information is provided by the agencies in conjunction with the United Way. The United Way relies on donations from individuals and businesses to meet the needs of its member agencies. Please consider a generous gift.

Focus Area: Nurturing Youth and Families (Education)

Name of United Way Supported Program: Early Child Program

How will The Learning Trail use United Way donor dollars?: The Learning Trail will use United Way funds to support our Early Childhood Specialist who administrates our Pre-K to Grade 2 Early Childhood Programs, directs and leads the Preschool Program for 3- and 4-year-olds, and leads a Parent Support Program. The program takes place at the Nature Trail Mobile Home Park.

Why is this program essential to Chatham County?: The Early Childhood Program provides academic support for preschool and early elementary school students living in the Nature Trail Mobile Home Park in northern Chatham County. Coming from low-income Latino families, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home. Without the preschool program, which meets four mornings a week, these children would start Kindergarten academically behind their peers. The N.C. Pathway to Grade-Level Reading created a multi-disciplinary framework to help children achieve grade-level reading by 3rd grade. Research has shown that improving 3rd grade reading takes a coordinated birth-to-age-8 approach that focuses on learning environments, families and child development. The Learning Trail Early Childhood Program addresses the following parts of the framework: high quality early education, a positive school climate, support for families, knowledgeable parents, and reading with children. Language-based skills have been developed in a continuum for pre-kindergarten to 2nd grade in alignment with the public school’s reading curriculum. Learning to read is essential to functioning as a productive citizen in Chatham County or wherever they will live. The Early Childhood Program is designed to help children avoid academic gaps or close gaps early enough to foster success in school. Without this support, these children would have little access to the benefits of education in a democratic society.

How does the program make a difference in the community?: While there is a N.C. Pre-K Program for at risk 4 year olds at North Chatham Elementary School, transportation is not provided. This makes the program inaccessible for most of these children and their families who have limited flexibility providing transportation. The pre-K program at The Learning Trail provides a four-day-a-week learning environment that they otherwise would not have. Furthermore, with these funds, the Early Childhood Specialist can continue to develop the curriculum and acquire the associated educational materials to enhance the program. Advanced learning tools and leveled reading resources will be acquired for the K-2 children. The early evening parent program has been possible due to the efforts of the Spanish-speaking Early Childhood Specialist who develops discussion topics to support the social, emotional, and academic development of their children in the program, a critical component of the Pathways to Grade Level Reading. The impact of this funding is life-changing.

Please share a story about a Chatham resident this program helped and the impact it made: As part of the curriculum and program for the preschool children, the preschool director organized field trips once a month in which the parents participated. Many if not all of the parents of the preschoolers last year had never been farther from their homes than the grocery store down the street. Their knowledge of Chatham County and other local resources was that limited. Field trips to the Chatham County Public Library, Jordan Lake, and the N.C. Botanical Garden were just a few of the experiences the parents, usually mothers, enjoyed with their children. Broadening the horizons of these children’s families serves to enhance the lives of everyone in the family. Many of the families did not even know each other until their children entered the preschool program. A shared connectedness developed with the families from the impact of these experiences.