Coping with Hard Times: Targeted programs help disadvantaged students

Discussion

May 25, 2009

Anonymous The Herald Bulletin Mon May 25, 2009, 09:37 PM EDT

By Marla Minton

For The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON — For some students, school is an exciting and fun place to learn and make friends. For others, it’s a place to escape from the harsh realities of living in poverty.

Although Madison County is no stranger to economic hardship, the recession has had a major effect on many local residents who were financially stable — and the community’s students are no exception.

Last year, 41 percent of students in the Madison County area were on free or reduced-price lunch. For some, the meals they receive at school are the only time they eat a well-balanced meal.

Naturally, those problems also extend to buying school supplies and school uniforms.

Kathryn Womack, an Anderson Community Schools social worker, said that those families who can’t afford to buy new uniforms each year for their growing kids can take advantage of the Uniform Exchange Program. This program allows families to bring in uniforms that no longer fit their kids and exchange them for sizes that do fit.

“Many teachers, student councils and members of the community donate uniforms for students,” Womack said.

However, children in poverty situations struggle with a lot more than just lack of supplies and uniforms. Living in poverty is stressful, Womack said, and many children carry these stresses with them to the classroom. Such children can turn to their teachers, social workers and after-school programs for help.

One such program is Kid Zone, an initiative offered for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Program provides ‘emotional outlet’

“This program operates after-school hours and gives children an appropriate emotional outlet,” said JoDean Washington, executive director of community development for ACS.

According to Washington, Kid Zone helps students on several levels.

“Some of the goals of Kid Zone are to help children succeed academically; develop respect for the rights of others; understand the world around them; learn to work, play and share with each other; appreciate cultural diversity and complete tasks that build self-reliance and self esteem,” she said.

Kid Zone also involves students in the program’s planning process.

To help students who are struggling in school, after-school programs are also designed to keep children caught up with daily work. Some schools even provide specialized after-school programs such as math or reading nights.

Anderson University sponsors a program, run by college students, called College Mentors for Kids. According to Michael Watts, president of the organization, its goal is to connect elementary school children with a “college mentor” so they can see what college life is like.

“The children we work with are first- through fourth-graders,” Watts said. “Every Tuesday students from Anderson Elementary come, and on Wednesdays students from Robinson Elementary come.”

The goal is to encourage young students to work hard in school and make their own goals for college.

Helping families help themselves

These kinds of programs help not only the students but also their families. As Anderson Community Schools Superintendent Mikella Lowe points out, many families, struggling or not, don’t always know how to help their kids with schoolwork.

“It’s not that the parents don’t want to help,” she said. “But in hard times, some parents don’t have a lot of time since they may be working two or three (part-time) jobs.”

According to Womack, simple tasks like counting the plates on the table, naming the colors of food being eaten or spelling out the names of the foods at the grocery store are easy ways to keep children learning.

Title I offers more assistance to ACS kids. The program works to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students.

Nancy Farley, director of Title I and transportation, said that the goal of Title I is “for all children, regardless of poverty or ethnicity, to achieve at or above their grade level.”

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