Programs Selected to Receive Funding from 2019 Employee Giving Campaign

Across Anne Arundel County, nearly three out of every ten students live in situations where families struggle to put enough food on the table. Such hardships are not only barriers to the physical health of the children they impact, but a lack of nutritious food also affects a child’s ability to learn. The Harvest for the Hungry: Kids Helping Kids Campaign works to eliminate that barrier by rallying the community to contribute both food and money to the Anne Arundel County Food Bank. The support of the Employee Giving Campaign will enable AACPS to continue to contribute to the Harvest for the Hungry Campaign.

In AACPS, 10% of students who enter Kindergarten are English Language Learners and each year we serve over 6,000 ELL students across all grade levels. While our schools provide targeted support for students’ English literacy skills, we also recognize the importance of promoting literacy in the home language, as well. Funding from the Employee Give Program will provide resources, workshops, and events to give ELL families the tools they need to encourage and promote reading with their children at home, and in their home language. We want our ELL families to feel welcomed in our AACPS community and to know that we recognize and respect the value of enriching their children’s home language skills so that together we can foster student growth.

The Brooklyn Park Farmers Market is a community gathering place that provides access to fresh fruits and vegetables to families living in northern Anne Arundel County during the summer months. Working with partnerships with multiple county agencies, the market also provides families and communities with resources to better the health and well-being of all residents. Over the past four years, this market has transformed Brooklyn Park Middle School into a hub of nutritious provisions. Funding from the Employee Giving Campaign will cover rental fees for the tent that houses the weekly market.

Many of our AACPS students are being raised by their grandparents or other relatives. These guardians want to be equally involved in their children’s education, but often do not know where or how to find the resources they may need. The Kinship Resource and Support Group  offers quarterly meetings that bring resources to families and provide  guardians with a place to get help and share their experiences. Funding from the Employee Giving Campaign will provide supplies, food, and (most importantly) transportation, which can be a barrier for many of our grandparents. This program will directly engage guardians and community stakeholders to ensure that all AACPS families feel welcome and valued in our school community.

Studies have shown that the mere presence of books in a child’s life profoundly impacts their academic achievement, but children in low-income neighborhoods are less likely to have access to books outside of school. Each summer, AACPS Media Specialists follow Food & Nutritional Services Mobile Meals vehicles into low income areas of Anne Arundel County to distribute free books to children. They also distribute books at the Brooklyn Park Farmers Market every Monday. Funding from the Employee Giving Campaign will be used to purchase books for the 2020 Summer Books Program.

Summer Fun n’ Play is four week summer camp (Monday-Thursday), offered in collaboration with Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks, to engage students in arts and crafts, sports, games, field trips and enrichment activities. Participants also receive free healthy breakfasts and lunches via the United States Department of Agriculture Summer Food Service Program. Funds from the Employee Giving Campaign will cover the registration costs for Title I students to attend this camp in Summer 2020.

The mission of the Weekend Food Program is to provide nutritional food for children who may not have sufficient food over the weekend or during brief school holidays. Funds from the Employee Giving Campaign will support the Weekend Food Program at one of AACPS’ alternative schools. These schools are specifically chosen because their students come from all over the county and do not have a PTA or PTSO to support a program on their own. As a lack of nourishment has been directly linked to the ability to learn, the hope is that removing this barrier will help these students return to school, both nourished and ready to learn.

Coping Power Groups enrich students’ ability to cope with stress and manage their feelings. This research-based intervention targets Bates Middle School students at risk of aggressive and disruptive behaviors. Students set weekly goals and participate in group activities to practice coping skills. Families are also invited to join parent sessions, which encourage participation and help parents and students learn how to alleviate stress.

The Chesapeake Regional Association of Student Councils (CRASC), the representative organization for all middle and high school AACPS students, was created to develop leadership skills, promote good sportsmanship, and to initiate improvements and activities for the general good of AACPS students. CRASC student leaders become student ambassadors for Anne Arundel County.

The GEMS program is a mentorship opportunity for girls ages 14-18 that promotes positive personal growth, engages participants in social activities to foster positive relationships, exposes participants to various academic and career opportunities beyond high school; and develops the characteristics necessary to become Change-makers in their community. Our mentors and community partners engage participants in relationship building activities, field trips, academic experiences, and leadership opportunities to create learning spaces within and outside of the classroom walls. Over the past two years, the program has supported girls from Arundel, Broadneck, Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, Old Mill, Meade, and North County high schools.

LitCon, AACPS’ annual teen literature conference, brings hundreds of ninth grade students from across the county together to engage with literature and authors, interact and connect with other students, and read and discuss literature with their peers. National Book Award winner Elizabeth Acevedo (Poet X) will joining the event as a keynote speaker. Funding from the Employee Giving Campaign will offset transportation and conference costs for this opportunity, designed to empower ninth grade attendees to become more engaged and responsive readers.

Moss-Adams has spent the last few years transforming into a Project Based Learning campus. Students have built an outdoor kitchen for preschool students, created a rain garden, built an osprey nesting platform, and installed steps and a canoe launch. All of this has been done at an alternative school without the benefit of a traditional workshop. Funding from the 21st Century Education Foundation will offset the cost of workbenches and tools.

The Mentorship Luncheon serves as a platform for nominators (AACPS personnel, parents, and guardians), to recognize an African-American male in middle or high school for their accomplishments in school and the community. This program supports AACPS Ready, Set, Launch! driving value by providing our youth with enriching activities outside the classroom walls led by male mentors from the community. The mentors engage our youth in team building activities and discussions on trust, communication, leadership, self-awareness, problem solving, and decision making.

The Young Authors Club is a co-curricular program designed to ignite self-expression and inventive storytelling for English Language Learners (ELL). In this project-based environment, students grow their vocabulary, writing skills, engagement, and confidence as every student becomes a published author. Funds from the 21st Century Education foundation will be used to purchase materials to expand this program at schools with high ELL populations.