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Upcoming LES kindergarteners get early taste of real thing

Lincoln Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher Dawne Pearson (right) encourages her young pupils Adaline VerBryck (left) and Lienna Pearson to share their summer experiences Wednesday, July 22, during Kinder Kamp, a pilot kindergarten readiness program. Thirty children participated in the two-week camp, funded by Huntington County United Way.
Lincoln Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher Dawne Pearson (right) encourages her young pupils Adaline VerBryck (left) and Lienna Pearson to share their summer experiences Wednesday, July 22, during Kinder Kamp, a pilot kindergarten readiness program. Thirty children participated in the two-week camp, funded by Huntington County United Way. Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.

Prior to the start of the real thing, some 30 kids at Lincoln Elementary School are getting a feel for what kindergarten will be like during the school’s two-week Kinder Kamp.

The pilot program, funded by a grant from the United Way of Huntington County and the Indiana Association of United Ways, aims to help youngsters transition to a school environment, especially those who haven’t been in a classroom previously, according to local United Way Executive Director Jenna Strick.

“We understand that there are kids who don’t have the opportunity to attend preschool for one reason or another, and when they come to kindergarten, they’re obviously delayed – they’re behind the other children that have had educational experiences,” she explains.

Students are picked up at their home by bus each day. Camp begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. with breakfast, followed by classroom time, in which they learn letters, nursery rhymes and math. Camp ends at 11 a.m. Kids get lunch, as well as a book to take home that was read to them in class that day.

The first Kinder Kamp, held last year, had 10 students. It was so successful that this year’s camp has a full 30 students signed up out of the school’s expected new crop of about 80 kindergartners – with some on a waiting list, says Lincoln Elementary Principal Adam Drummond. The students are divided into three classrooms, with a teacher for each group and Huntington North High School student volunteers to assist.

“It’s a win-win across the board,” Drummond says. “Parents kind of ease into this experience of kids getting on the bus. The children come to school, they become familiar with the campus and the bus schedule, and the procedures for breakfast and lunch. Most of the students that are here are with the teacher that they’re going to have during the school year, so they’re starting to know those teachers.

“So there are really a lot of benefits that have happened as a result of our partnership with United Way and I couldn’t be more pleased with that partnership as well as what we’re seeing already in the program.”

Drummond reports that on the first day of camp, there were some tears shed among the youngsters, some of whom were overwhelmed by the big building and unfamiliar faces. But on the third day all eyes were dry and bright, with pupils eager and attentive to learn in their new environment. He says that’s a good gauge that the program is successful.

“They’re coming in confident, they’re coming in happy. They know their teacher; they know me as their principal. So that alone helps create a more successful start to the year,” he says. “Plus, they’re going to be able to be leaders in their classrooms, so we’re creating some leadership skills. There will still be some kids coming in that haven’t had this experience, and so those students that are in the classroom will have had that experience. So now the teachers can rely on those students to help teach the procedures and model what it’s supposed to look like.”

The campers are also evaluated on their pre-literacy skills both before and after their Kinder Kamp experience.

Drummond says he’s heard great feedback from the parents of the new pupils, and adds that parents are not left out of the program. On the last day of camp, they will be invited to come to Lincoln and will receive a book on parenting. Five sessions will be offered throughout the course of the school year, offering advice and strategies for new parents of students in kindergarten.

There have been other kindergarten readiness programs in other school districts throughout the state, but this is the only one in Huntington County so far. Other schools have expressed interest in the program, Drummond says, and officials are looking at expanding it to the corporation’s six other elementary schools.

“It would be a great goal for us to look at and offer,” he adds. “I’d love to be able to have this be the start of a great program that we offer yearly.”

On Wednesday, July 22, Kinder Kamp had a visit from Allison McSherry, deputy district director for Congressman Marlin Stutzman, who was invited to check out the pilot camp and view the collaboration between Huntington County’s public schools and the United Way.

“It’s kind of neat, to kind of get their brains moving,” McSherry said. “This is a nice way to kick off their year.”

Parents with children in the Lincoln district will be able to enroll their incoming kindergarteners during the yearly kindergarten orientation for the 2016-17 school year. Students will be accepted into the program first based on need, then opened up to others as space allows.