Cleveland County Family YMCA addresses learning loss

Each weekday afternoon, Justice Pennywell, a literacy champion and lead staff, is waiting to greet the youngest group of children in a small room off of the YMCA library.

An elementary education graduate, he wears shorts, a YMCA T-shirt, and a backwards ball cap. He has an easy rapport with the children, seeking a thumbs up or down to describe their day and then asking them about their response.

Today, like most, they are beginning by working on word association.

“To make it fair we’ll go around the world like we usually do,” he said, holding up a stack of colorful construction paper with a letter of the alphabet written on each one. “I want two words associated with that letter.”

The YMCA saw a need in the community and recently rose to the challenge with a new literacy program.

Cameron Corder, CEO of the Cleveland County Family YMCA, was concerned about the impact this learning loss would have on children, both now and in the future, and felt it was imperative for the Y to step up and address the issue.

"The YMCA staff and volunteers wanted to be very strategic in how we responded to the Covid-19 crisis,” Corder said. “We realized early in our providing of remote learning opportunities that kids were struggling to learn. All of our research showed the importance of early learning and especially capturing the ability to read by the third grade, so we decided to implement an evidence-based literacy initiative in our community."

Learning Ovations

The YMCA has partnered with Learning Ovations, a community literacy support system, and implemented its A2i After School program at each of its local branches for students Pre-K through third grade.

Jay Connor, founder and CEO of Learning Ovations, said A2i After School provides each participating child and after-school instructor with a detailed and customized plan to support the child’s literacy development.

"For this age group, having parents or caregivers actively engaged in supporting their child is powerful,” Conner said. “And A2i After School makes it fun for both - shared activities and a shared sense of accomplishment.”

Connor said the Cleveland County Family YMCA was introduced to the program through the Duke Endowment Foundation and its partner, Read Charlotte.

“After connecting with the team at the YMCA, it was clear that we were not only able to meet the needs of the YMCA but also could be a thought-partner in the ongoing work of supporting early literacy achievement in Cleveland County,” Connor said.

Learning Ovations hopes to grow A2i After School not only across the Cleveland County Family YMCA but in the school system to ensure all students have after-school literacy support.

“We know that educators and after-school providers got into education to make a difference in the lives of kids,” Conner said. “We also know that a strong foundation in early literacy is key for lifetime success. There is a need, now more than ever, for schools and communities to meet the moment by supporting the individual needs of every student, regardless of the setting. We are thrilled to be a catalyst to schools and communities that are taking the charge to make transformative outcomes for their children.”

Learning Ovation offers assessments which are given throughout the school year to monitor student progress, and teachers are then provided with recommendations for instruction.

Empowering children

Jasmine Bullard, program director at the Ruby C. Hunt YMCA, is an English pedagogy and religion graduate and oversees the program at the Boiling Springs branch. Bullard said the program was launched in September, shortly after the start of the school year, and is already making an impact.

“It's been awesome,” she said. “The biggest thing is that we can already see the tangible evidence.”

She said one mother was in tears over her child’s progress. As the children's confidence grows, so does their excitement over learning, she said.

“Literally they'll walk in and say, ‘Are we going to reading group today?’” Bullard said. “The kids bought into it quicker than anybody else because we found a way to get creative and make it fun for them... and we’re facilitators of that.”

Bullard said the “littles,” the youngest children, are adult- or teacher-led, and the older kids participate in more independent and peer-guided learning.

“This empowers the kids to do it themselves,” she said.

Depending on the skill-level, the groups work on letter recognition, letter sounds, putting words together and meaning and comprehension. Initial assessments, which were taken around the beginning of the school year, helped staff place each student into the proper group. Throughout the year, there will be a mid-semester and then a post-assessment to gauge progress.

“It’s a true partnership with Learning Ovations. It's data based and data driven,” Bullard said. “The assessments teach us what kinds of lessons or curriculum the children need.”

Assessments can be printed out and provided to parents so they can follow their child’s progress and be an active participant.

“We’re calling it Read Rutherford and Cleveland County,” Bullard said. “We have all our branches but also have Rutherford County programming.”

'Significant impact'

With after-school programs already in place, staff pull from the after-school roster and have around 55 students participating in the program.

“It’s awesome to see education in the walls of the YMCA,” Bullard said. “We’ve had great stories come out of this.”

The kids are not just learning literacy, but they are learning to work together and on their behavioral skills.

Pennywell starts at one end of the room and works his way to the opposite, giving each student a chance to identify the letter of the alphabet on the flashcard and come up with two words beginning with that letter. Pennywell encourages, gently corrects and praises the children. Out in the main library, the older students are clustered at tables as soft jazz and instrumental Christmas music plays overhead. Some work on Chromebooks and others fill out paper worksheets.

“A lot of them, because they have their homework, they can work on that as well,” Bullard said.

If they need help, they can raise their hand and a staff member will come to assist them. Duncan said they worked through the chaos of the first few weeks of school and have since settled into a routine.

“They thrive off of routine,” she said. “It's such a blessing for the kids in the community to have that extra support.”

Corder said the YMCA is a cause driven organization, and they saw literacy as a great cause and opportunity to serve in a time of crisis.

"The work we do today will have a significant impact, and we should feel the impact over the next decade,” he said. We knew that doing nothing was unacceptable."

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Cleveland County Family YMCA addresses learning loss from the pandemic