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Creating Communities of Readers |
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“Sharing Our Past — Shaping Our Future” Since 1974 |
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The Greater Bennington population is 23,000 and consists of Bennington, Pownal, Woodford, and Shaftsbury. The community is in economic and social transition. Like many Vermont towns, a traditional manufacturing base has been in decline, resulting in unemployment, underemployment, low family incomes, and an exodus of 20-34 year-olds. The community also struggles with a ready-for-kindergarten rate that is 10% lower than state average. These challenges have created an awareness of the importance of education in everyday success and the community has identified improved literacy and education levels as an essential goal for individuals and the community.
The lead organization for the grant is the Tutorial Center. Partners include Molly Stark Family Center, Bennington Free Library, Bennington County Child Care Association, Sunrise Family Resource Center, Fathertime, Oak Hill Children’s Center, and Bennington Museum.
The Tutorial Center’s Jan Bopp notes that “this grant will enable the community to focus valuable resources on literacy at exactly the right time to impact a coming pool of school children, and their parents, along with the community in general.”
Over the four years, the grant team wants to provide access to literacy activities and training for the entire community.
To do this they plan to ensure that all children will have access to literacy activities outside the school day. They also want to work to develop literacy-rich environments at childcare and education providers and include family literacy instruction and activity in all adult education programs, college classes, and parent support groups.
Projects include literacy activities at existing public lunch sites, a reading program for fathers, bookmaking workshops for early childcare and education providers, a literacy week celebration, development of a community scrapbook and oral history, family literacy training, homework clubs, and after school literacy programs.
The Bennington Banner will provide a weekly literacy message in the paper for an entire year. The Pennysaver Press will follow suit with once a month messages. For more information about Bennington’s CCR program, contact Jan Martin Bopp at the Tutorial Center, (802) 447-3964.
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Office in Montpelier
11 Loomis Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602 802.262.2626 Fax: 802.262.2620 E-mail: info@vermonthumanities.org |
