BY MAGGIE BEAMGUARD, Insider Editor
There is a new opportunity for children to stay sharp during the summer break through a weekly reading program offered at West End United Methodist Church.
“Fun in the Son” is a program for pre-K through rising 6th graders to have fun, practice literacy skills and eat snacks.
The free weekly program, which started in June, runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9-11 a.m. through the first week of August. The week of July 4 will be a program break.
Children in the program engage in a mix of play, reading and tutoring. “Research proves that tutoring is very, very important in student growth. And it’s actually very effective,” said Erin West, who is leading the program.
Reading stations will be set up for different age groups and will be tailored to the needs of the group. The older children may work on comprehension passages and the younger ones may work on their letters.
But it’s not all noses to the grindstone.To make things fun, games and snacks will relate to a different theme every week.
“We’re doing golf, baseball, soccer, camping and backyard barbecue” themes, said West. “For ‘backyard barbecue’ week, I think we’ve got a chef in the congregation who is going to come and do some make-and-take things with the children. We have a garden at the church too, so for ‘garden week,’ the kids can do some planting activities. And the final week will be some fun water play.”
Children can be enrolled for just one week or a couple of days of one week. “I foresee that some of the kids who are participating in summer school through the school district might want to take advantage of our Saturday groups.”
West comes from a long line of teachers and has always enjoyed working with children. She started out teaching kindergarten at a school in Fayetteville. West credits her supportive principal Don Phipps, now the schools superintendent of Caldwell County, with recognizing her heart for student advocacy and her desire for better opportunities for all children. With his encouragement, she pursued a master’s degree in school administration at Fayetteville State and was a N.C. Principal Fellow.
West has worked in school administration at the middle and high school grade levels and has taught college-level courses at Michigan State. While raising a family, she taught at her son’s preschool.
“My passion has always been education. I’ve worked in every level of education. I’ve taught everybody from teeny one-year-olds at preschool all the way through 21-year olds at Michigan State.”
Most recently, West has been doing some mentoring and tutoring. West has noticed that the pandemic has created learning delays for kids who were not able to get what they needed during that time.
Since moving to this area, she and her family have attended West End United Methodist Church. It was there that Pastor Jane Leechford reached out to West and encouraged her to apply for a grant to start a literacy program through Congregations for Children, a statewide initiative of the United Methodist Church.
West and Leechford worked together to secure the grant and they were joined by WEUMC member Linda Donnell, who helped sketch out the plan for the summer.
West hopes that this opportunity will help students gain some of the ground that has been lost during the pandemic.
“Through the course of the school year, I have worked with kids, particularly first- and second-graders, because I feel like that group has been hit particularly hard with COVID-19,” West said. “This year we’re finding these sweet little second-graders in particular who are struggling with their letters, and here comes the third grade next year. It’s not a situation where they’re incapable, it’s just that they missed a lot. So my goal is to help them get caught up and build their confidence and to build some of those foundational skills.”
This summer program is one way West continues to pursue passion for childhood education.
“You would think that it wouldn’t be such a radical position, but I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that it sort of is. But I am for kids. I’m an advocate for children. Everything that I do is on their behalf. I love to work in collaboration with the community and with churches to support children in a holistic sense whether that be feeding them, clothing them, or teaching them. I want for other kids what I want for my own children.”
Volunteers are needed to tutor but also to help serve snacks, play games and to supervise. West will offer some training for those with an interest in tutoring.
If you’re interested in either having a child participate or in volunteering, you can contact West at erinkate21@gmail.com.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
