| Name | Stephanie |
|---|---|
| Last Name | Guster |
| Home Address | 1071 Banther Rd. Mc Donald, Tennessee 37353 United States |
| Organization Name | Avondale SDA School |
| Describe Your Role In The Organization | School Board Chair |
| Organization Address | 1201 N. Orchard Knob Avenue Chattanooga, TN 37406 United States |
| Website | https://avondalesdaschool.org |
| Best Phone Number To Reach You | 216-407-5438 |
| Alternate Phone Number | 423-390-8424 |
| Email Address | stephaniecrider220@yahoo.com |
| Alternate Email Address | stephaniecrider220@yahoo.com |
| Please Describe Your Project In Detail | In December 2021, the UNICEF released a terrifying report that the current generation of students risks losing approximately an estimated $17 trillion in earnings over their lifetimes due to COVID-19 closings of schools. This projection far exceeds prior estimates forecasted in 2020. Even outside of COVID, teachers express their frustration at the level of learning loss that occurs during the summer vacation. According to research done by the Oxford Learning Center, Inc., 2.6 months of Math skills and 2 months of Reading skills are lost over summer vacation. The research also showed that 2 months of subject-focused learning is all it takes to improve specific learning skills. The goal of the proposed Summer Time Enrichment Program (S.T.E.P.) is to provide opportunities for continued learning during the summer. Due to the constant fluctuation between in-person and virtual instruction, many students within Hamilton County have experienced high levels of learning loss. The Avondale SDA School has been a major contributor in educating children in Chattanooga for more than 100 years. The S.T.E.P. program provides a 8-week camp for ages 6 – 15. The mission is to provide a holistic summer educational enrichment and leadership development program for youth and teens ages 16-18. Our vision is to offer students activities to strengthen their critical thinking, social interaction, team building and work on academic discipline during the summer. The cumulative learning loss impact from COVID-19 is too significant for our city to ignore. This proposed project will collaboratively intervene to address the following: 1. Lack of affordable childcare during summer or affordable enrichment activities. The two months of June and July often find parents most vulnerable. Once summer vacation begins, many parents are unable to afford childcare or secure enrichment experiences that fit within their income capacity. 2. Loss of employment. COVID-19 unemployment rates continue to challenge families. Without activities where their children can continue learning and growing, many parents find looking for different employment impossible. 3. At-risk behaviors for unattended youth in the city. Our school is located in the heart of our city in one of our most neglected zip codes. Investing into the children in this zip code is an investment into neighborhood restoration for generations to come. The S.T.E.P. project will address these barriers by providing free summer enrichment services to applicants through our central location in the Avondale neighborhood. Proximity to downtown and multiple community hubs make this an ideal location for summer enrichment. The program would employee fifteen camp staff to include certified teachers focused on building skills in math, literacy and science. Further, the program while also engage participants through both hands-on learning activities and educational trips. In order to ensure COVID safety, the program will accept fifty applicants for the summer. |
| Please explain how your project meets the requirements of the American Rescue Plan | The S.T.E.P. program meets two requirements of the American Rescue. 1) The program targets the negative economic impacts to families and their children caused by the public health emergency by: • Eliminating the barrier of child care during the summer months that places many low-income households at risk of unemployment and/or underemployment. • Alleviate the negative economic labor force impact to female, black heads of household by providing child care. Single guardian households make up 41% of the zip code. Black female labor participation after covid-19 has dropped 3.2 percentage points. • Address the national food insecurity risk that school age children face when public schools close during the months of June and July by serving breakfast and lunch. 2) The S.T.E.P. program will address educational disparities referenced in the American Rescue Plan interim final rule by: • Providing summer learning opportunities in a safe academic setting within a high poverty area of our city. • Targeting the academic regression typically experienced by communities of color and exacerbated by covid-19 learning loss. • Acknowledging that zip-code 37406 is both low-income and has high socially vulnerability, thus projecting negative outcomes for educational attainment According to the research conducted by the National Summer Learning Project, voluntary summer programs that mix reading and math instruction with sailing, arts and crafts and other summer staples” directly benefit children from low-income communities. The project is well aligned with the stated priority to address educational disparities through providing learning loss services to students. Under the Economic Impacts and addressing educational disparities criteria outlined in the Interim Rule, programs designed to address summer learning loss needs exacerbated by the pandemic are identified as an eligible use of funds. “Educational services and practices to address the academic needs of students, including tutoring, summer, after-school, and other extended learning and enrichment programs…” Furthermore, the Interim Final Rule acknowledges that the Treasury encourages directing services to “high-poverty school districts to advance equitable funding across districts and geographies.” |
| Where would your project take place? | The Summer Time Enrichment Program (S.T.E.P) will be located at 1201 N. Orchard Knob Avenue in the Avondale SDA School campus. |
| How much will your project cost in total? | 600000 |
| Do you have any matching funding sources from other local governments, private entities, non-profits, or philanthropic entities for your project? | Yes |
| Please describe the source and list amounts of any other funding. | Avondale SDA School is currently seeking matching funding from the State of Tennessee Department of Education as well as local grant funding through the Bethlehem Center Community Connections Grant. Currently, we are poised to receive in-kind contributions such as discounts to local providers to enhance the hands-on learning experiences offered; in-kind volunteer support of community residents; administrative support from the Orchard Park SDA Church. In-kind contributions to the project include office space at schools or community locations and in-kind supervision of mental health providers through the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Social Work and Hamilton County Schools. |
| What portion of the project are you asking the city to fund? | The portion connected with the enrichment activities. We are seeking other funding for portions of the academic planning. |
| If funded, when would your project start? | June 6, 2022 |
| How long would your project take to complete? | 07/26/24 |
| What milestones would you use to measure your project’s progress? | Overall number of students enrolling in the program Percentage of students completing the pre-enrollment assessment Number of days students attend the program Percentage of students completing the post-enrollment assessment Percentage/Number of students eating breakfast Percentage/Number of students eating lunch Parent satisfaction surveys Student satisfaction surveys |
| How would you ensure accountability and transparency throughout the project lifecycle? | In order to ensure accountability and transparency throughout the duration of the project, our program will: 1. Establish an implementation timeline with targeted program goals, performance indicators and deadlines immediately following approval from the Chattanooga Equitable Recovery Commission. 2. Create and utilize electronic data collection (surveys/questionnaires) that can be quickly tallied and shared with stakeholders. 3. Analyze weekly data from the surveys and send a bi-monthly report to stakeholders, participants and funding partners. 4. The S.T.E. P. program will utilize the monthly data reports to do monitor how we are doing with achieving our goals. 5. The S.T.E.P. Program Director will hold parent and student focus groups to seek additional feedback on ensuring that our constituents and participations can provide their thoughts in real time. |
| If successful, how would your project benefit the community? | Program success would mean children, youth and the families of the Avondale community would stave off additional educational gaps. By consistently providing the service for three summers, we will benefit children during many crucial educational leaps (transitioning from elementary to middle school, from middle-school to high school). The Summer Time Enrichment Program would also benefit the community by indicating the City’s willingness to invest in one of the most vulnerable sectors of our city. |
| How will you attract community buy-in for your project? | Being located in the 37406 zip-code means that this proposal is seeking buy-in from our neighbors. By offering this free and voluntary summer service to the Avondale neighborhood, we believe our long-standing centennial investment in our own neighborhood would assist us with getting buy-in. Additionally, we plan to attract buy-in using marketing to our closest neighbors (Avondale YFD, Carver Recreation Center). Other local partners who are in our immediate vicinity (and with whom we will establish contracts once funded) include the Chattanooga Zoo, Chattanooga Aquarium, Hunter Art Museum, Children’s Discovery Museum, etc.) |
| Name | Stephanie Guster |
| Contact Information | stephaniecrider220@yahoo.com |
| Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? | The project is being submitted by the seven members of the Avondale SDA School Board. Executive officers are: Janice Walwyn (Business Manager) - 423-505-5306 Tiffany McNealy (School Prinicipal) - 423-698-5028 |