Connections a quarterly publication of Communities In Schools of the Midlands with information and opportunities to connect with students and schools so every child has a chance to succeed.

Volume XXIII, Issue 4

Important Dates

Connection “Ads”

Communities In Schools of the Midlands

2712 Middleburg Drive, Suite 219

PO Box 8884

Columbia, SC 29202

www.cism.org

Stay up to date with the success of students involved with Communities In Schools of the Midlands on facebook!

For more information about helping local students call 803-254-9727 or email development@cism.org

July 4th: Independence Day

Keeping Students Engaged During the Summer

Months to Increase Next Year’s Success.

July 24th: National

Parents’ Day

A Iowa State University study of various student populations shows that summer vacation, without active learning, can result in lost skills and learning from the previous school year. The study found that students who did not participate in any type of summer learning made tests scores between one to three months lower when they returned to school in fall than the scores they made when they left the previous spring.

The study revealed that math facts and English language skills, which are the

cornerstone of success in school, suffered most from summer learning loss. Among the students examined in the studies, neither gender, ethnicity, nor IQ appeared to have a consistent influence on summer learning loss leading the studies authors to conclude that all students need some type of summer enrichment.

The following are a few ways to keep your student engaged to prevent summer learning loss.

Sign-up for a summer reading program: Richland

County Library offers a summer reading program. Sign up free at any location and enter for a chance to win prizes.

Engage in online learning: SC ETV’s www.knowitall.org provides on demand access to interactive, and fun, learning for students of all ages in a variety of subjects.

Cook with your child: Recipes are a great way to teach your child fractions, multiplication and division, three of the most important parts of success in middle and high school math.

June 20th: Father’s Day

August 15th: First Day for

Richland Two Students

August 16th: First Day for

Richland One Students

“Parent To Parent” “How will you keep your student engaged this summer?”

Every Wednesday after work, I take my children to the library to check out a book. To me, it does not matter what kind of book, just something they are interested in. It normally takes them a few days to read the book, then they “report” to me and to their siblings about it . ~Mary B.

My kids love to do volunteer work so I am encouraging them to volunteer for a summer reading program near our neighborhood. It gives them a chance to read and help others read. I can tell that it really helps them to improve their reading skills. My son has said that he learns more helping other people then he does trying to help himself. ~Kate E.

My kids would much rather play than study. However, I found a way to help them learn and have play. On hot days, I give my kids “chances” to win prizes by answering questions, indoors. Kind of like a game show. I use their homework and tests from last year to ask them questions. When they answer correctly, I give them a ticket. At the end of the summer they can use their tickets for candy, school clothes, or even a nice backpack. ~Sue S.

Governor Nikki Haley, the South Carolina Association for Volunteer

Administration and the United Way Association of South Carolina presented Mr. Andy Broughton, of the Communities In Schools school at the Department of Juvenile Justice program with the 2011 South Carolina Governor’s Volunteer Award for Direct Service on Monday, May 16, at the South Carolina State House. Congratulations for your outstanding accomplishment and for your dedication Andy!

Look for opportunities throughout the Midlands to help provide students and teachers with a fresh start and proper supplies for the next school year

by donating any of the following items:

Mechanical pencils Highlighters Zipper pencil pouches Expo markers Wide-ruled paper

USB drives Backpacks 3-ring binders (2”or larger) Composition notebooks Spiral notebooks

Scotch tape Kleenex pouches Hand sanitizer Tab dividers Poster board

June 21st: National

Summer Learning Day

Would you be willing to place a donation box in your business??? If so, please call 803-254-9727

My wife and I take our children to the river walk in Cayce on Saturdays. Since we are both biologists, it gives us a chance to teach our children about plants, animals and ecosystems. My kids really enjoy being outside and learning. My wife and I enjoy spending time with our kids and helping them enhance their knowledge. ~Andy S.

Communities In Schools of the Midlands has been awarded a grant by United Way of the Midlands to expand into a local elementary school. This program seeks to form

stronger collaborations of current school partners and recruit diverse new partners to prepare youth to be promoted on time and ultimately graduate and achieve in life. A Communities In Schools (CIS) of the Midlands Success Coach will implement the CIS Model of integrated community services to increase attendance, course performance, positive behavior, the number of students who are promoted on time and parent/guardian involvement. By implementing the CIS model, the Success Coach will ensure that appropriate services are provided by collaboration partners to address the ever changing needs of students.

Janet Bailey Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Sarah Vann Bonds Palmetto Health

Emily Brannen Board Vice President The South Financial Group Meda Cobb Department of Juvenile Justice Tammie Epps Palmetto Health Angela English Board Secretary First Citizens Julie Flaming Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Kathy Garrick Prudential Midlands Rhittie Gettone The University of South Carolina

Charles Griffin Regions Bank

Therese Griffin SCANA Corporation Anthony Hargrave Board President IBM Corporation Lori Marrero E. L. Wright Middle School Preston Sabalis Board Treasurer NBSC Terry Schmoyer Schmoyer and Company, LLC

Thank you fourth quarter donors!

Core Staff

Terry L. Linder Executive Director

Madonna Gauthreaux Director of Operations

Jordan Thie Development Director

Board of Directors Proven success of the Communities In Schools’ Model

helps expand sites in the Midlands. Volunteer Corner

Richard Ackerman Harvey Allen

Dow & Janet Bailey Joe & Amateen Benton

Danny & Sarah Vann Bonds Sarah Boyd

Emily Brannen Harry Brown

Sally Sue Garris-Brown Susan Carter

Dan & Meda Cobb Chris Controne

Mary Cribbs Christian & Angela English

Elizabeth Felkel Julie Flaming

Frank & Kathy Garrick Madonna Gauthreaux

Vernon & Rhittie Gettone Belinda Greene Therese Griffin Charles Griffin

Anthony & Lakita Hargrave Bobby & Jo Hecker

David & Joan Hoffman Rhonda Jeffries

Marie Jones-McCollum Linda Bush

Carrol Josey Terry L. Linder Miller Mayes

Virginia McCuen

Rick & Lynn Noble Elizabeth Patterson Ben & Peggy Rast

Preston & Louisa Sabalis Virginia Samuel

Terry Schmoyer, Jr. Beth Selbee

Pamela Simmons-Beasley Anne Sinclair Jordan Thie

Pope Walker Danny & Mandy Westerkam

Barbara Weston Rick & Brenda Wheeler

Kathy Wine Regia Wragg

Communities In Schools of the Midlands has been chosen as one of 15 CIS affiliates in North Carolina, South Carolina and California to help increase the number of case-managed students in those states by 6,000 and to increase the number of students who have access to prevention services by 44,000. The project is being partially funded by The True North Fund, a capital aggregation organized by The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. The Foundation currently focuses on advancing opportunities for low-income youth (ages 9 to 24) in the United States. The Foundation believes that making significant and long- term investments in non-profit organizations - with proven outcomes and growth potential - is one of the most efficient and effective ways to meet the urgent needs of low-income young people. CIS of the Midlands was awarded expansion funds for five site coordinators because of its dedicated strong local leadership, its alignment with TQS and successful delivery of the CIS Model of integrated student services, strong school partnerships, potential for further scale and penetration with low-income students, minority students, and failing schools, as indicated by district need, and current organizational commitment to fund sustainable growth.

9th annual Oyster Roast update: The results are in for the signature fundraiser of Communities In Schools of the Midlands. On behalf of Communities In Schools of the Midlands staff and the students we serve, thank you to

everyone who helped make this event a success. This year, we raised over $30,000 to support the operations that surround students in the Midlands with needed support so teachers are free to teach, and students are able to learn.

Meet our new summer VISTA Ashley Baldwin

Ashley Baldwin is currently a student at Midlands Technical College where she will graduate in August with an A.A. in Human Services. She will pursue a Bachelors at Columbia College next year. Ashley started with Communities In Schools serving as an Intern for our Heyward Gibbes Middle School program. Ashley’s goals as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer are to recruit new volunteers for all sites, streamline the volunteer process, and develop consistency across sites for volunteers. Ashley has a passion for helping children grow and succeed in school and looks forward to continuing her involvement with Communities In Schools of the Midlands. If you would like to volunteer, you may contact Ashley at volunteers@cism.org or 803-254-9727.

A national research project to evaluated the effectiveness of the CIS model has shown that Communities In Schools is proven to have positive benefits on attendance, academic performance, student- and school-level dropout rates, and graduation rates. This has enabled CIS to double its size nationally over the last ten years from serving 700,000 to more than 1.3 million. Communities In Schools is now the largest dropout prevention network and fifth largest youth-serving organization in the Nation. As a Nationally Accredited affiliate, and part of the CIS network, CIS of the Midlands has local, proven outcomes towards our mission of surrounding students with a community of support. Because of this, CIS of the Midlands has been selected for the opportunity to expand local programs through a grant from The Edna McConnell Clark, True North Fund, and a grant from United Way of the Midlands collaboration initiative.

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