INSIDE Each year Strong Start looks for opportunities to highlight the importance of literacy and spread the word about its programs. This year produced a unique opportunity for Strong Start to share its message with an audience of nearly 100,000. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS The last 12 months have been rich with development, re-development, imagination and re-imagination. We have seen growth in all programs and have worked hard to get Strong Start ready for the next 10 years. We started by giving Strong Start a new look and re-branded our organization as "Strong Start to reading." We also created additional brands for our Letters, Sounds and Words and Get Ready for School programs. January started with real excitement as the Baby Literacy Collaborative announced the launch of Baby Connections, thanks to three years of funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, along with a one-time grant from The Waterloo Regional Record Literacy Fund, administered by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation. January also saw the start of the CHYM and KIX 106 Cares Campaign featuring Strong Start. This year, on the program side, we increased enrolment, enhanced program quality and made it easier to deliver. We’ve transformed the way we collect assessment results from our partner schools and community centres, and how we communicate with them through the use of technology. In June, we were in the media again with news of Strong Start being chosen as Social Venture Partners' first non-profit beneficiary, and the announcement of five years of core funding by the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation for our Get Ready for School program. I hope I've sufficiently piqued your interest that you'll want to turn the page to learn more about what we`ve been doing over the last year. On behalf of our organization and the thousands of children we serve, I want to sincerely thank the generous people in our Strong Start communities for their continued financial support of our programs and for their time and energy in volunteering! All the best, Machelle Denison, Executive Director Finding a way to do more with less meant new technology for Strong Start; with enhanced program quality and ease of delivery as the goals. It’s twelve months later and Strong Start is benefiting from SiTE SOURCE™, a web-based data-entry tool, eCommunications and more... TECHNOLOGY TRIUMPH Exciting progress this year includes enhancements to the Letters, Sounds and Words program™, moving from pilot to implementation of Get Ready for School™ and the launch of Baby Connections™. See Page Two. PROGRAM PROGRESS December 2011
Transcript
INSIDE
Each year Strong Start looks for
opportunities to highlight the
importance of literacy and spread the
word about its programs. This year
produced a unique opportunity for
Strong Start to share its message with
an audience of nearly 100,000.
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
The last 12 months have been rich with development, re-development, imagination and
re-imagination. We have seen growth in all programs and have worked hard to get
Strong Start ready for the next 10 years.
We started by giving Strong Start a new look and re-branded our organization as
"Strong Start to reading." We also created additional brands for our Letters, Sounds and
Words and Get Ready for School programs. January started with real excitement as the
Baby Literacy Collaborative announced the launch of Baby Connections, thanks to three
years of funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Lyle S. Hallman
Foundation, along with a one-time grant from The Waterloo Regional Record Literacy
Fund, administered by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation. January also
saw the start of the CHYM and KIX 106 Cares Campaign featuring Strong Start. This year,
on the program side, we increased enrolment, enhanced program quality and made it
easier to deliver. We’ve transformed the way we collect assessment results from our
partner schools and community centres, and how we communicate with them through
the use of technology. In June, we were in the media again with news of Strong Start
being chosen as Social Venture Partners' first non-profit beneficiary, and the
announcement of five years of core funding by the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation for our
Get Ready for School program. I hope I've sufficiently piqued your interest that you'll
want to turn the page to learn more about what we`ve been doing over the last year. On
behalf of our organization and the thousands of children we serve, I want to sincerely
thank the generous people in our Strong Start communities for their continued financial
support of our programs and for their time and energy in volunteering!
All the best,
Machelle Denison, Executive Director
Finding a way to do more with less
meant new technology for Strong
Start; with enhanced program quality
and ease of delivery as the goals. It’s
twelve months later and Strong Start
is benefiting from SiTE SOURCE™,
a web-based data-entry tool,
eCommunications and more...
TECHNOLOGY TRIUMPH
Exciting progress this year includes
enhancements to the Letters, Sounds
and Words program™, moving from
pilot to implementation of Get Ready
for School™ and the launch of Baby
Connections™. See Page Two.
PROGRAM PROGRESS
December 2011
Program Progress
Letters, Sounds and Words™
is a program for children ages five
to seven. In schools volunteers,
help children learn to identify letter
names, sounds and sight words.
Get Ready for School™ is a
program for children ages three
and four. It helps develop early
reading skills, vocabulary and
proper classroom behaviours.
Baby Connections™ is a
collaborative initiative which
supports early literacy skill devel-
opment for babies 6 to 12 months
old in Waterloo Region.
Enhancement is the word used to
describe this year’s Letters,
Sounds and Words activity.
Starting with volunteers' coaching
m a n u a l s a n d f i n i s h i n g
with organization of activity
kits, we concentrated on making
things more user-friendly. The
outcome is more consistent pro-
gram delivery and happier volun-
teers. Coaches' manuals now in-
clude sim-
plified in-
struct ions,
an agenda
for each
session and
p h o t o s
s h o w i n g
how to set
up games
and activities, saving our volun-
teers valuable time and energy.
We published our own set of Little
Books, written by Inge Ford, that
are an integral part of our pro-
gram. This enhancement is the
answer to an unannounced
change by supplier that threat-
ened to cause us problems.
More enhancements on Page 3.
From Pilot to Flight: after over
two years of testing, incredible
results and the generous Lyle S.
Hallman Foundation five-year
grant, Get Ready for School (based
on the research of Dr. Iuliana
Baciu) will take a foothold in the
community early in 2012, when
four community centres will host
the 44-session program.
Programs will be offered in Cam-
bridge at Popcorn House and
P r e s t o n
Heights Com-
munity Cen-
tre and in
Kitchener's at
K i n g s d a l e
Communi t y
Centre and
Country Hills
Communi t y
Centre.
Baby Connections was officially
launched on January 28th, 2011,
based on compelling research
which shows that language and
literacy learning begin at
birth. Thanks to strong community
support, the mission to 'motivate
and support parents to facilitate
early literacy skill development,
starting in their child's first year of
life,’ is off to a good start’.
Baby Connections provides parents
and care-givers with hands-on
learning opportunities and a free
early literacy toolkit which builds
awareness, knowledge and behav-
iours to help ensure the future suc-
cess of our community's youngest
learners. Over the last three
months, more than 30 individuals
from six community organizations
have participated in early-literacy
skills training. Community Facilita-
tors are now busy integrating Baby
Connections into local programs
such as Baby & Me, Make the
Connection, and Busy Babies.
2
Real Results
2,243
children
served in over
135 schools
88 to 100%
of children
made significant,
excellent or
outstanding gains
1,900
volunteers
contributed
32,000 hours
In this final year of the pilot project,
nearly 30 children were served at two
locations. Measuring vocabulary and
verbal ability, based on age-
equivalency scores, children demon-
strated a full one-year gain in their as-
sessment results. Using assessments
children showed an almost eight-fold
increase in sounds awareness from the
time they started the program until
completion. Children demonstrated
consistent, effective classroom learning
behaviour and their assessment scores
showed significant improvement.
Technology Triumph
Financial and in-kind support opened doors to a major technology
upgrade at Strong Start, creating the opportunity for ‘more’: more
capacity for program delivery, which means more children served.
We now reap the benefits of five new technologies. We've im-
proved efficiency, enhanced the quality and ease of program de-
livery and improved our ability to communicate with our program
partners and stakeholders. From telephones to the Strong Start
website, we’ve taken a giant leap into the future.
Top Three New Technologies:
SiTE SOURCE™ - a web tool to collect program participation and
assessment data 24/7. In addition, it provides a one-stop resource
library for program partners.
SharePoint Server™ - a web tool used by Strong Start team mem-
bers working away from the office to share documents and photos.
Constant Contact™ - a communications tool which creates easy-
to-read, interactive email.
Strong Start website
new look
Site Co-ordinator
eNewsletter
SiTE SOURCE™ data entry tool
3
Mighty Machines
- Family event
Giant Tiger
- Anniversary, BBQ
Word on the Street
- Victoria Park
Family Literacy Day
- Conestoga Mall
Community Connections
Awareness of Strong Start and our Letters, Sounds and Words program skyrocketed this
year, thanks to the seven-week CHYM Cares and KIX Cares Charity of the Month
campaign.
Through the airing of five public service announcements featuring personal messages
from parents, volunteers and Strong Start personnel, listeners learned more about the
impact our programs have on the children we serve and the volunteers who make it
happen.
Strong Start also showcased program-related interactive activities at events
throughout Kitchener and Waterloo. For the second consecutive year we felt
the mighty engines roar as we, the charity partner, shared stories and
information with visitors at Mighty Machines. A roar of a different kind was heard as the Giant Tiger mascot
helped Strong Start greet guests at the store’s 50th Anniversary Celebration BBQ. Family Literacy Day at
Conestoga Mall and Word on the Street in Victoria Park were wonderful opportunities to talk with parents and
children. We were proud to be among the many highly regarded, literacy-focused organizations of the
Waterloo Region.
Social Venture Partners Waterloo Region selected Strong Start
Social Venture Partners Waterloo Region chooses Strong Start. In
November 2010, Social Venture Partners Waterloo Region was launched
with a focus on supporting children and youth. After a thorough
application process, Strong Start was selected in June of 2011 as its first
beneficiary of funding and expert advice. A minimum of three years'
investment will have significant impact on the strength and capacity of
Strong Start's organization and programs.
Social Venture Partners combines philanthropy with the volunteering of
time and expertise by its members. Strong Start is honoured and excited
to tap into, and be guided by the expertise, information and resources
that Social Venture Partners offers.
Social Venture Partners
Social Venture Partners is a regional
network of individuals who invest and
partner with non-profits in Waterloo
Region. Founded in November 2010.
4
Program Partners Team Trail
Memorial Dedication
With honour and appreciation, Machelle Den-
ison presented the first set of the new Little
Books to Ken Silvester at the Site Co-ordinator
event in September. The books are dedicated
to Ken's wife, the late Lynda Silvester, Strong
Start's co-founder. The books were created
with the support of her memorial donors.
- Community Fund - The Jim and Sue Hallman Family Fund - David and Eleanor Yach Family Fund
