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FOURTH OF JULY- The town of Laurel holds its 25th annual Fourth of July festival. See pictures on pages 3, 5, and 7.

Boys and Girls Club receives funding for school partnershipBy Tony E. Windsor

In an effort to ensure there is a bridge of support established between students, their classroom and their fam-ily, a local non-profit youth agency has developed a new enrichment program to put focus on academic success. The Western Sussex Boys & Girls Club in Seaford recently received funding through the Delaware 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative.

The grant funding is made avail-able through the Delaware Department of Education. The funding supports schools and community-based organiza-

tions that collaborate on opportunities to provide after-school and summer learn-ing programs in high-poverty school districts. The goal is to assist students in gaining academic enrichment that will help them meet state and local achieve-ment standards in core academic sub-jects including reading and math.

The Seaford Boys & Girls Club is working in partnership with the Seaford School District on the “Great Futures” program. The program uses school teachers working in tandem with B&G Club staff, to provide students with aca-demic support outside of the classroom.

Chris Couch, executive director of

the Western Sussex B&G Club, says the Great Futures program provides academic support for the students and a lot more. “The goal of this project is to bridge the school with the Boys & Girls Club to engage the kids in academic, recreational, and character and leader-ship programs and activities,” he said.

Couch says current and recently retired Seaford School District teachers are being hired to provide tutoring to students in an effort to expand the B&G Club’s existing “Power Hour” academic tutoring program. The Power Hour pro-

RIVERFEST BOOK- Check out this week’s Seaford Star for the official program for the Nanticoke Riverfest.

Continued on page 4

FABULOUS FOURTH FRIDAY- The band Group Therapy performed at the first Fabulous Fourth Friday event of the year in downtown Bridgeville. More photos on page 12.

A L L -S T A R S - Starting pitcher Landon Ennis goes to the plate for Nanticoke Minor League all-star team during a game last week. See story on page 31. Photo by Lynn Schofer

MORNING STAR • JULY 11- 17, 2019 PAGE 4

Laurel StarPublished by Morning Star Publications Inc.

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Seaford StarPublished by Morning Star Publications Inc.

951 Norman Eskridge HighwaySeaford, DE 19973

(302) 629-9788 • Fax (302) 629-9243The Seaford Star (USPS #016-428)

is published weekly by Morning Star Publications Inc., 951 Norman Esk ridge Highway, Seaford, DE 19973. Periodi-cals postage paid at Dover, DE.

Subscriptions are $23 a year in coun-ty; $23 a year in Delmar, Sharptown and Federalsburg, MD; $28 a year in Kent and New Castle Counties, DE; $33 a year out of state. Postmaster: Send address changes to Laurel Star, 951 Norman Eskridge Hwy., Seaford, DE 19973

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people need the tutoring support and in what subjects.

According to Great Futures Project Director, Staci Wyatt, as of the first week in July there were 11 teachers hired for the program. She said English/language arts and math tutoring is slated to start in mid-July. “We are assessing every child that participates in the B&G Club Summer Fun Club so we are sure that any child who needs the program will receive it,” she said.

Wyatt said the youth will also be assessed at the end of the summer to see the impact of the program on their academ-ic learning. She said the goal of the sum-mer program is that 60 percent of those youth being tutored in English/language arts and 55 percent of those being tutored in math show academic improvement based on data from the end of summer assessments.

Couch said another critical dynamic of the Great Futures program has all Seaford elementary schools and the middle school, assigning an academic liaison who will communicate daily with the Great Futures “Family and Schools coordinator.” This ensures that the needs of the students in the schools, who are being assessed and referred to the program, get the necessary tutoring support at the club.

Melinda Brittingham, Family and Schools coordinator for the program, is excited about the impact the Great Futures program can have on student academic success. She is equally excited about what the program will do to help families stay connected in their children’s education.

Brittingham said in her role she will work to ensure there is communication between the schools, the club and the families as it pertains to the needs of the students being served through the Great Futures program. “Because the kids are here at the Boys and Girls Club in the afternoons we are able to see the families more often than the schools. I will be in the schools during the school year speak-ing with liaisons to identify those kids who need that extra academic help.

“We will also be able to assist the fami-lies should there be issues including lan-guage barriers, or to provide parents with

assistance in knowing how best to help their children with school work at home,” she said. Brittingham said having teachers from the school district working with the program as tutors will also be a resource in identifying those students who are in need of the Great Futures program support.

Another component of the Great Futures program is a monthly family engagement event that will be held at the Seaford B&G Club. The event will allow the program participants and their families to be involved in recreational opportunities offered at the club, but will also include special instructional workshops for parents to help them support their children’s edu-cation.

“We are working with the schools to have teachers attend the Family Engagement events and be available to help families better understand the sub-ject matter that their children need help,” Brittingham said. “This will be a great opportunity for parents to learn math and reading tips that can help them to better understand what their children are learning in the classroom. We want to help families to be equipped to help their children with their homework.”

Couch said if some families still find it difficult to help their children with home-work for any reason, they can enroll their children at the Seaford Boys & Girls Club and receive access to the Great Futures program.

As project director, Wyatt says she sees one of her most important roles is to pro-vide the resources needed to those who are involved in the Great Futures program. “I want to make sure that everyone includ-ing the teachers, the Families and Schools coordinator and all program staff have the tools they need to make sure the program runs smoothly. If we do this, I believe the students will be getting the best that this program has to offer,” she said.

Wyatt said gaining insight from stake-holders from within the Seaford commu-nity is very valuable. She said a special community advisory committee is being put together. It will include representatives from existing partners such as Soroptimist International of Seaford, and the Seaford Police Department. In addition, serving on the committee will be parents, students themselves, and Seaford educators.

“We want to have this committee let us know how the program is doing. We want to hear their ideas about what we are doing right, as well as areas they feel we can improve on,” she said. “We plan to have

Continued from page 1

Funding

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our first meeting at the end of the summer and then possibly hold them quarterly. But, we want the committee members to come anytime and observe and share their thoughts.”

Wyatt said the program will have teach-ers tutoring small groups of students who will be grouped based on where they have been assessed academically. “We will have some groups who may have third graders and fifth graders grouped together, because that is where these students are in terms of academic proficiency. I am giving the teachers’ free reign in terms of how they tutor. These are phenomenal teachers and in many cases, they already know these students and know all about being success-ful teachers. They are using instructional materials that are being used in the class-room and the students are familiar. We are letting the teachers build their own lesson

plans. We are very fortunate to have amaz-ing teachers,” she said.

Wyatt said in some cases students are being grouped with teachers they have had in the school setting to enhance the com-fortability of the tutoring sessions.

Chris Couch said the Great Futures program is part of a five-year 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. However, this does not mean that the Boys & Girls Clubs can rest on its laurels in terms of program success. “Each year we will conduct an assessment of the program and submit a report to the Department of Education,” he said. “We will be doing assessments annually to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the community. This means we will revise our goals and pro-gram itself to make sure we are successful in providing the necessary academic sup-port for the students we serve.”

Staff of the Western Sussex Boys & Girls Club in Seaford have received special fed-eral funding through the Delaware Department of Education. The funding will enable the club to implement a special academic enrichment program, “Great Futures,” for Seaford School District students in first grade through middle school. Seaford School District teachers will come to the Seaford B&G Club and tutor students iden-tified as needing additional academic support in language arts and math during the summer and after school. Pictured from left: Drake Mitchell, 12; club volunteer, Allie Maurer, 15; TyAire Jones, 8; Western Sussex B&G Club Executive Director, Chris Couch; Diego Mazariegos, 8; Great Futures Project Director, Staci Wyatt; Rebecca Martinez, 8; Rahiem Jones, 9; Great Futures Family and Schools Coordinator, Melinda Brittingham and Cailyn Foy, 6. Photo by Tony Windsor

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