Boys & Girls Clubs and Gainesville (GA) City School System Awarded 21st CCLC Grant

WASHINGTON - May 19, 2015 - PRLog -- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County (GA) (https://www.boysgirlsclubs.com/) and the Gainesville (GA) City Schools System were awarded a generous 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) grant to create and implement fun and engaging STEM-integrated enrichment in their Success Academy (https://www.boysgirlsclubs.com/21st-century-learning-centers) after-school and summer programs. This pilot program is meant to be duplicable across communities to increase student engagement and bolster STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning.

Success Academy is designed to improve the academic performance and classroom behavior of over 350 high-risk, low-income and/or special needs students attending Gainesville City, GA Title I elementary and middle schools. The grant aims to help students improve their math and science understanding and application, while simultaneously strengthening their reading, language arts, critical thinking, socialization, and team-building skills.

The nexus of the program is the creative STEM books developed by publisher Science, Naturally!in Washington, DC. Each student in grades 4-8 will participate in a math and science “Mystery Club” based on the award-winning “One Minute Mysteries” math and science series. Students in grades 2-3 will gain STEM knowledge by working with the books, 101 Things Everyone Should Know About Scienceand If My Mom Were A Platypus: Mammal Babies and their Mothers. The older students will also enjoy reading new STEM fiction in the Success Academy book club. All of the books used in the program have been awarded a “Recommends” designation from the National Association of Science Teachers (NSTA).

The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs is to inspire and enable young people of all backgrounds to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. Focusing on three key areas—academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles—with the ultimate goal of ensuring its participants graduate from high school, it provides a safe place for thousands of children and teens to learn and grow, to form relation-ships with caring, adult professionals, to build character and to perceive a glimmer of hope and optimism. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County serve 360 members daily between the ages of 6 and 18, 79% of which hail from economically disadvantaged circumstance and 86% of which live in a single parent household.

The 21^st Century Community Learning Centers Program (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html) supports the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours for children, particularly students below the poverty line who attend low-performing schools. It helps students meet state and local standards in reading and math, as well as offers an array of enrichment activities that complement their regular academic programs. It also grants literary and other educational services to the families of participatory children, aiming to create a better environment for learning.

The 21^st CLC grant application was written by Audella Patterson, a professional grant writer who has researched, reviewed and prepared proposals for a wide variety of organizations including school districts, museums and after-school programs. These grant topics go beyond education and STEM, bringing in funds for physical fitness and technology, among others. She has written multiple grant applications that have been awarded significant funds, and has published an e-book titled How to Set Up a Non-Profit.

Science, Naturallyis a small independent press located in Washington, DC, specializing in math and science books for middle grade readers. Producing both fiction and non-fiction STEM titles, they are committed to increasing science literacy by making STEM topics accessible for students of all ages. Science, Naturally’s products are crafted to align with both the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards; almost all of its books have earned the “Recommends” designation from the National Science Teachers Association. Its most recent science mysteries were selected for the “Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12” list. Their books are available as e-Books, and in multiple languages (including Spanish, Chinese, Dutch and Hebrew). They are distributed by the National Book Network