Just by TCP being in the school has made a big difference and impact on our students. We are seeing improvements in grades, but most importantly, we are seeing improvements in their overall performance and behavior in school.
Happy New Year TCP Family!
Over the last few months, TCP has embarked once again on finding and starting a new way to serve/mentor kids in our community. For those of you that have been supporting and following TCP for the last few years, this probably doesn’t surprise you. For new supporters and/or followers of TCP, we are always adapting and finding new ways to better serve kids through new programs and activities.
After reviewing data from the latest Poverty Amidst Plenty Needs Assessment conducted by the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County and Dr. Pamela Brown, I was appalled by the Math and English proficiency data of 5th and 8th-grade students in Anne Arundel County. And I think you will be too after you take a look.
This alarming data was backed up by our own data that we have collected from our TCP Sports & STEM program, which uses sports to promote math. Pre-assessments that we have collected from three Sports & STEM programs have shown us that only 6 out of 53 students (4th and 5th grade) were able to successfully complete a 12×12 multiplication table.
For anyone that knows TCP, we do not just sit back and wait for someone else to do something; we take action! Our motto is “don’t talk about, be about it”, so that is exactly what we are doing.
To better serve students at Park Elementary school, we started the TCP Academic and Emotional Mentoring “program”. This program provides each Park with at least one mentor four days per week who comes in during the school day to provide academic and emotional mentoring to students.
TCP Mentors have set up “Lunch Bunch,” where they eat lunch with 1-2 students each day and assist them with doing their iReady Math or English homework/classwork that has been assigned or is past due. They also create math problems based on what they are struggling with in class to help prepare them for quizzes, tests, and assessments.
Along with “Lunch Bunch”, TCP Mentors assist students and teachers during class time. This could be working one-on-one with a student or assisting a small group of students through classwork/activities. This could also include teaching students sportsmanship during recess which we have found is a huge problem at Park that has resulted in students losing the opportunity to play sports during recess.
All in all, from October through January, this program has produced the following results at Park ES, which we know you will be proud of.
- 100% of 4th graders have improved their computational math skills
- 94% of students have increased their confidence in math
- 83% of students have shown improvements in attitude, behavior, and class participation during school
Due to the success of these programs at Park, we are now offering both programs at Brooklyn Park elementary and are on track to start a Sports & STEM program at Woodside elementary in the Spring. We have, in just the last week, received calls from two other Glen Burnie elementary schools who are very interested in our programs and we plan to deliver on these calls.
I wanted to take the time to share this update with you for three reasons:
- The need is real! Kids are struggling and need some love! Schools are understaffed, and teachers need support! Math proficiency in our County is a disgrace! And English proficiency isn’t much better. Mental health issues are rising in low-income youth, and there is not enough support available.
- To meet the need and demands of our programs, we need additional staff and volunteers. Do you know anyone looking for part-time work or volunteering opportunities? Are you looking for part-time work or volunteering opportunities? Does your child need an internship? What about other family members?
- THANK YOU!! YOUR support and partnership are making significant improvements in the lives of the kids we serve. If it wasn’t for YOUR support and partnership, TCP Charity would not be able to do what we do and address the needs in our community.
Have a Blessed Day!
Andy Schindling
Founder & Executive Director
