Tuesday, October 8 we invited community members to join us for a bus tour through Battle Creek to learn more about how our region is changing the story through education.  We made four stops and we were fortunate enough to have two experts join us on the bus to talk more about certain initiatives.

Our first stop was Sprout Urban Farms, a community organization that works to teach residents how to grow their own food.  Executive Director, Jeremy Andrews, was one of our experts on the bus and used some of our travel time to share more about their initiative.  Jeremy explained that Sprout Urban Farms chooses to work with United Way because of similar beliefs.  They believe that people deserve to be educated about their food and where it comes from, that everyone deserves access to food to keep them healthy, and that socioeconmic status should not keep people from buying healthy foods.  We were able to tour the Bright Star Farm location in the Washington Heights neighborhood to see the operation in action.

Next, we went to Verona Elementary School where we had a special oppotunity to act as reading buddies to a first grade classroom.  United Way’s Jennifer Nottingham was our second expert on the bus, and she was able to provide important context for everyone.  In 2011, a collaborative effort between United Way, Calhoun County Intermediate School District, and Verona Elementary took the kindergarten students from 5% of students reading at profiecient level to 71% reading at proficient level or higher. We know early grade reading is a key indicator as to whether or not a student will stay in school and go on to higher education.  One important component of the program is the reading volunteers who come in to read with the students once a week.  On Tuesday, our whole bus got to experience the magic of listening to a first grader discover the joy of reading.

Our third stop was the Battle Creek YMCA.  Most people don’t think of education when they think of the YMCA, but there’s much more than swimming going on at the Battle Creek location.  The Y is home to two different preschool prgrams, two English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, an adult literacy program, and GED prep courses.  Most recently, they have opened their doors to the Burma Center, as part of a collaborative effort to offer a wider span of ESL courses and create inclusiveness in the community.  All participants in these programs are eligible for free child care and also YMCA scholarships.  If you’re a Y member, consider adding tutoring to your workout schedule and help support some of these amazing initiatives. 

Lastly, we stopped at The Haven of Rest to learn more about their Gain Access Program (GAP).  This program provides a variety of services including providing after school programs for homeless youth, individual tutoring, help catching up on missed assignments, as well as recreational opportunites.  GAP also provides services for children who may be staying in the shelter, but are not yet in school.  This allows for early childhood learning as well as provides the children and parents with stability and structure during a stressful time.  These programs are truly making a difference for the children in our community.

Thank you to all of our wonderful stops for hosting us and for all of our participants for taking the time to join us.  We’re working on scheduling more bus tours, so like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay up to date about opportunites to join us.