January 23, 2013
I’ve written up some information regarding our newest program for FLOC, but let me give you updates and further input. In the fall of 2012, we asked three area schools to identify five children in their system who are academically talented, and who could use our resources. To that end, we have five third graders from Monticello Elementary; these students will eventually graduate from Wayne High School. We have five fourth grade students at O.R. Edgington; they will graduate in eight years from Northmont High School; we have five fifth grade students from Centerville’s Cline Elementary who will graduate in seven years.
We are invested in a longitudinal study where we are going to provide these students with academic and community support throughout their journey as young children, as pre-teens, as teenagers riding the tough tide that is marked by those years. Eventually, this will be our pool from which we select our college scholarship recipients.
We are the first of our kind in the Dayton area, as far as I know. Longitudinal studies are arduous, are time consuming; they are fascinating. We are documenting our growth through Blue Dog productions; we will be able to look back through the many years that we will invest into this study and find where we had success, where we can fine tune our efforts. Perhaps we pursue greater motivations for academic success, maybe we encourage summer studies- we will overview our efforts on a consistent basis. We will also have the gift of watching our children grow into adults, with our love and support. At this point, we are meeting monthly in order to create this community of children, and quarterly to evaluate modes of study and grades achieved. Our study is being followed by DePaul University, where my daughter is doing research on what and how to enrich our program. It is being followed by academics throughout the Dayton community.
If you are reading this and have an academic field of interest, we need tutors. We would like to support our kids, both in this study, and in our community who need your help. Please feel free to call me, Beth Mann, at 937-657-9393 between the hours of 11am-7pm and let me know how you would like to get involved. Dayton’s County Commissioners will be recognizing those high school tutors with certification of appreciation for specific hours of service offered. This is such a win-win for our volunteers who may need to open some doors for college; the knowledge that your hometown city honors you looks very good on a resume.
I will tell you this- our organization is just plain filled with good stuff. It is a warm hug- 24/7 to be involved with making the life of a child just that much better because you had a hand in doing so. I’ll keep you posted on how we’re doing with our study- and hope to hear from you in the meantime!