Holy Trinity Catholic School Division is working with the United Way of Regina to encourage students to continue reading over the summer by providing them with fun and exciting incentives.
The Regina-based organization will provide free summer literacy kit backpacks to 114 students in grades 1 and 2 at Sacred Heart and St. Agnes schools by the end of June. Each kit will contain 10 new Scholastic books so families can build their reading library, activities and games to make learning fun over the summer, school supplies and a backpack, and nutritional snacks.
There will also be eight weekly challenges, where families can submit an entry to attempt to win a gift card of $50 to Sputtergotch Toy Co.
“We are thrilled with the partnership with the Regina United Way and thank them so much for supporting our students and families … ,” said Ward Strueby, superintendent of learning. “We believe that this targeted eight weeks will allow students to continue to improve their reading skills and continue to build families’ home libraries … .”
Sacred Heart and St. Agnes were chosen for this summer’s reading project since many students at these schools participated in online learning this year, while division data showed these students would benefit the most from the extra support, he contniued. The division office hopes to include more schools in the future.
"We hope to see kids excited about reading, learning to use their imagination, and strengthening their letter and sight word recognition," Strueby added.
The United Way usually holds summer literacy camps for a small group of students who could use extra attention with their reading skills, explained donor relations specialist Stacey Schwartz. However, the organization could not do that last year because of the pandemic, so it adapted its approach and created literacy backpacks.
“We’re very grateful to have received support from K+S Potash Canada. Because of their support, we are able to expand this initiative to Moose Jaw, and we are delivering this same initiative in Swift Current and North Battleford as well,” she said. “We’re really pleased we’re able to do that.”
The United Way’s literacy team developed the activities in collaboration with school divisions to help kids become excited about reading, learn to use their imagination, and strengthen their letter and sight word recognition. Other community partners also helped assemble the backpacks.
Last year was challenging for teachers, students and families, so the United Way attempted to develop a literacy program that could support families over the summer without being labour intensive, Schwartz added. Therefore, the activities are more self-directed, so students can complete them regardless of whether they’re camping, at the park, or home.
Schwartz provided some background about how the summer camps usually function.
The United Way began its summer camps in 2015. These camps are normally 10 days long and see 15 kids attend per week. Participating schools will recommend students from kindergarten to Grade 3 if they could benefit from additional literacy support. The ratio of students to leaders is 5:1, while the youths are provided with an intensive, fun learning environment.
The organization expanded this initiative into Moose Jaw in 2019.
The data from the summer camps in 2019 showed that 60 per cent of students improved their reading levels by one to two levels, while 40 per cent maintained their literacy abilities, said Schwartz. These camps help address the “summer slide,” where youths’ reading abilities regress during their two months off school. This then forces teachers to spend the first eight to 12 weeks in the fall to help kids catch back up.
It’s important that students are at reading level by Grade 3 since the curriculum changes in Grade 4 and focuses on different aspects of literacy, she added.
The United Way of Regina hopes to return to providing summer literacy camps by 2022.
