650 West North Street | PO Box 111 | Auburn, Indiana 46706 | 260.925.0311
03-18-2010 - Learning Link members give update
The Star
March 18, 2010
March 18, 2010
Learning Link members give update
By Lindsay Winslow Brown
GARRETT — Learning Links committee members shared their progress Tuesday night at Garrett Middle School.
Learning Link is a DeKalb County initiative seeking to work together, through continuous learning, to improve the quality of life for all. The program works through three groups — early childhood education, kindergarten through 12th grade education and adult lifelong learning.
The early childhood group has a vision that all county children will “enter kindergarten ready to achieve,” said committee member Molly Schuman.
The group — made up of community members, teachers and administrators — surveyed public and private schools about kindergarten readiness. According to local public schools between zero and 80 percent of their students are ready. Private schools said between 90 and 95 percent of their students are ready.
By the year 2015, the group hopes at least 90 percent of students will enter kindergarten ready.
The group has kindergarten-readiness pamphlets available for distribution and hopes to conduct trainings for kindergarten screeners this spring.
The kindergarten through 12th grade education group hope students will offer outstanding performance in academic, vocational and civic areas.
The group wants more students to read at grade level by the third grade, an increased number of school-community partnerships to better prepare students for careers and more students involved in civic activities.
Currently, 78 percent of third-grade students are reading at or above grade level in DeKalb County schools, said literacy teacher Carrie Alday.
Becky Pfeffer of DeKalb High School said currently 28 students have unpaid internships, 40 have paid internships and 17 students participate in health occupation education classes.
Pfeffer hopes to continue to develop relationships with area businesses to better prepare students for careers in the area.
The adult lifelong learning team has three ideas for improvement — parenting skills, volunteerism and adult education. The group hopes to increase the number of DeKalb County adults who use community resources to improve their lives or careers.
Currently, five GED classes are available in DeKalb County. Occupational skills training is available through WorkOne, the Freedom Academy and other area colleges. The group also hopes adults will enhance parenting skills through community resources. Currently, 37 groups offer parenting skills classes and workshops.
All the groups plan to continue to bring ideas to the table.
“The people in this room are not going to solve these issues. It’s going to take the whole community,” said Learning Link director Judy Sorg.
Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools superintendent Dennis Stockdale said he appreciated the efforts of those who attended the program. He said schools have to change for two reasons — to keep up with the demand of technology and because family structures have changed.
“It’s going to take all of us to make sure kids the opportunities they need,” Stockdale said.
For more information about Learning Link or to get involved, call Sorg at 925-0311.