On March 13th as I sat at my dining room table homeschooling my three children, the uncertainty and impact of what was to come started to sink in. In that moment, I decided The Indy Learning Team would use all our resources to support the community centers, students, families, tutors and volunteers we have worked so hard to build trust and community with over the past five years.
I founded The Indy Learning Team to end the generational cycle of shame around reading struggle, something my daughter and I have experienced first hand. COVID strains all aspects of students' lives from food and housing insecurity to education. Placing the responsibility of education in the hands of parents who are struggling to survive and educate their children sometimes beyond their educational abilities.
Without taking on any additional funding, we increased our scholarships to students benefiting from 1-1 tutoring 5 times (from 93 hours in 2019 to almost 500 hours in 2020), we provide weekly creative writing to 4 times as many students, created new community center partnerships, are delivering Story Spot in A Bag (books paired with science projects) to 100 students monthly. Most of this is free of charge. Most of these additions not contemplated in the 2020 budget.
Can you help us build a $13,000 fund to continue to expand access and support opportunity through literacy? The need is so big and we need your help.
We appreciate any support. Gratefully, Susan Appel