Calhoun ISD Receives Grant for Early Childhood Connections

Supporting school readiness for Homer children entering kindergarten was the focus of a recent Albion-Homer United Way grant to the Calhoun Intermediate School District. 

The $2,000 grant was given to the CISD Early Childhood Connections program. The grant is to help with school readiness. According to Kayle Wilson, Calhoun Early Childhood Family Coach, helping a child be ready to start school “affects everything from reading at grade level to higher high school graduation rates.”

Early Childhood Connections provides all services free to families. The AHUW grant helped provide kindergarten readiness backpacks, additional playgroup materials and literary opportunity through books. 

 Supporting this service to children aligns with the mission of the Albion-Homer United Way to provide “long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening” to help community members “live more whole lives-a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health,” stated Marcia Starkey, AHUW executive director.

 Using the summer Kindergarten Round Up, Homer children received backpacks filled with items to prepare them and keep them engaged and excited for entering school, Wilson said.

“While the children were having fun, they were honing the skills they needed to feel ready and comfortable with starting school, “ she stated.  In addition kindergarten families also were given a school readiness binder filled with summer activities and a summer reading list, along with developmentally appropriate playgroup materials. 

Through AHUW funding assistance the CISD program offered the opportunity for family home visits “to provide them with research-based curriculum to help them with best practices in parent/child interactions, child development and family well-being,” Wilson said. 

Supporting local organizations like Early Childhood Connections demonstrates good reasons to donate to the local United Way, Starkey said. These reasons include that donations fund Albion and Homer specific programs and that funding decisions are made by a local board. Donor lists are never shared with other agencies and payroll deductions make donating easier.

In the next few weeks previous AHUW donors will receive mailed information on how to continue to donate to help fund new grants, Starkey stated.

Donations can always be mailed to AHUW P.O. Box 55, Albion, MI 49224, made  on-line at www.albionhomeruw.org or by contacting Starkey at 517-499-2563. 

AHUW board members are Carolyn Amos, Donisha Brewer, Chris Burdette, David Diemert, Robert Hawkins, Ryan Hopkins, Art Kale, Isabell Nazar, Pam Schuler, Gary Tompkins, Eddie Williams and Shane Williamson.