Enrich

Designed to serve academically at-risk school children in grades K-6, Enrich is a half-day four-week summer program aimed at helping each child achieve academic success through enrichment opportunities and individualized tutoring. To enhance this process, the Enrich program provides two nourishing meals each day and exciting educational field trips in addition to other learning activities.

The Enrich Program is open to all children in the target grades without regard to ethnicity, country of origin, or religion. While the program grows from a joint effort of the Lutheran and Episcopal churches in Mississippi, there is NO teaching of doctrine of these or any other religious faith traditions.  It is expected that all who work with the children will do so with a loving concern for the welfare and the individual progress of each child.  Students will be chosen because a teacher, school counselor, or the principal have identified them as people who would benefit from the program.  The objective is to identify up to fifty (50) children in a community who will be available to attend the full session of the Enrich Program.  If children are enrolled in other programs for a portion of the time of the summer Enrich classes, they may not be eligible to participate in the program.  There are exceptions, but this must be worked outwith the Lead Teacher prior to the child's enrollment and classes begin.

In cooperation with government, community food programs, or donations from local businesses, breakfast and lunch are available to participants.  The Lead Teacher and Director of Enrich will arrange for nutritious meals to be served daily prior to the beginning of the program at each site.

Student learning styles should be identified early in the program using the Learning Strengths Inventory developed by Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligence (for more information, please go to www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory). Monday through Friday during the four hours that students and teachers will meet, a variety of creative educational techniques will be used to reinforce a wide range of academic skills in which the attending children have tested below grade level.  The areas of concentration are: reading/language arts, math, music, art, life skills, and physical education.

As funding permits, at least one educational field trip is scheduled during the four-week program.  The intention of this field trip is to fulfill the goal of taking the children beyond their local experiences.  The Lead Teacher and the Director of Enrich will agree upon the destination of the field trip prior to the beginning of the program.

In addition, scheduled educational presentations from community volunteers such as a healthcare provider, local author, puppet show, artist, environmental learning center, and Cooperative Extension specialist add to the multi-disciplinary approach of the Enrich program.  It is the responsibility of the Site Manager/Lead Teacher to schedule all educational presentations held at the school based site of an Enrich program.

Using material supplied through the Learning A-Z Program, student's scores will be used as a pre-testing tool.  During the Enrich Program teachers will assess the progress of each student using a Bloom's Taxonomy Chart.  At the end of the program a post-testing instrument is administered to quantify the progress of each student.

Short term goals for children participating in the Enrich program are:

• Academic skills will improve in the areas of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
• Children will acquire knowledge about opportunities that are available to them in the future.
• Public school experiences for the following year will be more productive and positive.

Long term goals for children participating in the Enrich program are:

• Children will be able to move more effectively through middle and high school.
• Children will have a belief in their own ability to move on to the college or vocation of their choice.
• Children will understand that they can make a difference in the home and community.

LESM will establish an Enrich Site under the following conditions:

1. A minimum of thirty students have been identified as high academic risk based on classroom teacher's, school counselor's, or principal's recommendation.
2. Parents have given their consent for the children to participate in the program and are willing to have their student's progress to be documented.
3. If more than the maximum number of students submit applications, the Director of Enrich Programs will be involved in the selection of students at the site.
4. A Lead Teacher is identified and willing to fulfill the responsibilities.
5. Site is fully staffed to ensure the teacher to student ratio remains 1:10.
6. Local support and/or sponsors are enrolled and statements of support and/or statements of level of sponsorship are received.
7. All staff have valid driver's licenses, auto insurance, and no convictions.
8. Transportation for field trips is secured, have valid insurance, and drivers have valid licenses.

What LESM will provide
1. Leadership from Director of Enrich.
2. Training of each Lead Teacher and all other staff members.
3. Training materials for volunteers.
4. Background checks for all volunteers having direct contact with children.
5. Funding for the program as established in the written budget.
6. A least four site visits by the Enrich State Coordinator during the program.

• Organizational meeting.
• Training session two weeks prior to the beginning of the summer classes.
• First week of classes: meeting with staff and local stakeholders to review and make needed adjustments.
• Closing week of classes to evaluate the program with the teachers.

7. Purchase Enrich t-shirts for all participants. These can be worn during classes and on field trips and will be a gift to participating staff and students.
8. Provide packets of items needed by the participating children for their return to school in the fall.

Enrich sites are selected by the Enrich Advisory Board working with LESM's Executive Director and the Director of Enrich Programs using the following considerations:

• Close proximity to where children live.
• Ability to hire teachers in the area.
• Availability of transportation to site.
• Adequate classroom and meeting room space.
• Adequate restroom facilities.
• Adequate and safe play areas, both indoor and outdoor.
• Adequate space for special projects.
• Agreements have been reached regarding custodial services, utilities, insurance requirements, and liability responsibilities.
• Access to office equipment such as telephone, copy machine, and word processor.
• Handicap accessibility.
• Availability of meals through local merchants or the Mississippi Department of Education's Child Nutrition Program.
  

A Lead Teacher is selected when a person meets the following criteria:

• At least three years experience working with academically at risk children.
• Experienced teacher (retired teachers are encouraged to apply).
• Possess organizational skills to develop schedules, train others, and manage program.
• Creative and imaginative in use of educational enhancement tools to reinforce academic skills.
• Experience in development and/or use of evaluation tools.
• Has ability to help promote self-esteem of children.
• Has good record-keeping skills.
  

Teachers have a minimum of one year experience working with academically at-risk children. Teachers must also demonstrate the ability to use creative and imaginative resources to enhance academic skills of children while maintaining compliance with the Enrich curriculum.

All volunteers over the age of 15 having direct contact with children must pass a background check conducted by LESM prior to their arrival at an Enrich site.  Volunteers are given specific assignments by teachers. A special effort is made to involve high school students, college students, retired persons, and parents. Persons not from the local area may also volunteer if they are known to either LESM personnel, or local Enrich site personnel.  The must have the background check also.

Volunteers should attend a training session prior to their involvement with the Enrich classroom.

Volunteers are to be given specific tasks according to the needs of the site, and are to work closely with site teachers.

It is the expectation of LESM  that both students and staff will make every effort to be at the Enrich site on time daily during the duration of the program.