Calhoun County Library Awarded Grant from Save the Children to Support Early Childhood Literacy Program in St. Matthews

The $5,000.00 grant provided by the global humanitarian organization will help fund STEM and STEM, Jr. Programs

St. Matthews, SC (January 2022) – Calhoun County Library today was awarded a $5,000.00 grant from global humanitarian organization Save the Children to support the STEM and STEM, Jr. programs, which will allow children to engage in hands-on learning with project-based activities in science, technology, engineering, and math. 

Calhoun County Library was selected by Save the Children to support innovative approaches to early childhood literacy. The grant will fund community-wide initiatives that support Kindergarten readiness and early childhood literacy.

“On behalf of Calhoun County Library, I want to express our gratitude to Save the Children for funding our innovative STEM and STEM, Jr. programs,” said Janice Baskin, patron services and STEM instructor. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our county’s young students may face widening academic achievement gaps, especially in the science, math, and technology areas. It has been difficult for our teachers, parents, and students to do hands-on learning during virtual school these past years. Due to this generous funding, our STEM and STEM, Jr. programs aim to meet the academic, as well as nonacademic, needs of our students. Our STEM and STEM, Jr. programs will offer an innovative, hands-on approach to learning using equipment, such as microscopes, iPads with Osmo software, fraction kits, coding kits, and many other manipulatives, which are funded by Save the Children. Calhoun County Library will connect with the local schools to supplement and support a shared mission for improving academic achievement for our students. We made plans to began the STEM, Jr. program with little equipment but with this funding, we are excited to implement so many fun, new concepts. Using the equipment provided by Save the Children, we plan to offer a stimulating program that encourages critical thinking and improves the academic success of Calhoun County’s students.”

Calhoun County Library hosts STEM activities September through May on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays each month from 4 PM – 4:45 PM. These programs are for children in Grades 3 - 6 and offer a student-centered learning environment where children can investigate and develop problem-solving skills while they produce evidence-based explanations for real problems. We also provide STEM, Jr. activities for students in Grades K5 - 2nd on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 4 PM – 4:30 PM. These programs inspire younger children to create, discover, and explore. STEM, Jr. introduces science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to empower little learners.

“Save the Children is grateful to our early learning partners who participated in the grant program,” said Lesley Graham, Senior Director of Community Impact at Save the Children. “We are looking forward to supporting all of these innovative projects and seeing them up and running to help young learners grow and develop across rural America.”   

Save the Children believes child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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