The increasing concern that students lose too much of their learning over the summer break has led to a unique partnership between Lake Michigan College and the United Way of Southwest Michigan. The two have teamed up to create Summer Literacy Kits for Southwest Michigan students.
Showing a little love on Valentines day, Thursday, the partnership resulted in creation of 200 such kits for kids in Kindergarten through 8th grade for distribution in three schools in Benton Harbor, Niles and South Haven.
Yesterday, the college staff packed the 200 summer literacy kits for the schools in the three communities where the college has a campus presence.
Both organizations feel that summer reading and writing is critical to support a child’s learning while school is out over the summer break. These kits will help ensure students are ready for the new school year. United Way of Southwest Michigan and LMC will be providing the kits to give children literacy resources to keep them engaged throughout the summer season.
The kits contain pencils, a small LMC basketball, crayons, colored pencils, a sketch pad, alphabet tracing sheets, an age appropriate book, a United Way bookmark, and a snack. In addition, the LMC marketing students created their own college themed coloring book for the kids, along with a puzzle, that contains encouraging messages that the kids can read once the puzzle is put together.
United Way of Southwest Michigan fights for the Health, Education and Financial Stability of every person in every community. They have the influence and relationships to make sustainable change a reality. By harnessing resources from corporate, nonprofit and public partners, they provide immediate assistance to the most vulnerable populations in our midst, while addressing the root causes of the community’s longstanding challenges and changing lives for the better. To join the fight—through giving, advocacy and volunteering—visit online at www.uwsm.org.
