After twelve years of improvements and expansion, the SIZZLE!® summer literacy day camp is facing significant reductions in 2006. ProJeCt of Easton, Inc. has offered SIZZLE!® to local children since 1994 in an effort to build literacy skills and prevent summer learning loss, partnering with the Easton Area School District since 1999. Last year SIZZLE!® served 349 children at three school district sites with the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and numerous local businesses and foundations. This year SIZZLE!® faces the loss of all state funding as well as the support of several local corporate donors who were unable to obtain educational improvement tax credits. Program sponsors must replace at least $65,000 or reduce services by that amount.
The 2006 Federal Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill cut funding for family literacy programs by 56%. In an effort to preserve family literacy programming across the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) decided to direct all available state and federal funds to support year-round programs. For SIZZLE!® and the local Family Literacy Summer Reading Partnership, that means the loss of all public support.
For the past five years the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has designated SIZZLE!® an “educational improvement program” eligible for corporate donations under the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. Several loyal corporate SIZZLE!® sponsors were unable to secure tax credits for 2006, resulting in the loss of additional corporate support.
This compounded loss of funding has forced ProJeCt and the Easton Area School District to consider making difficult cuts to the program. More than likely, the six-week camp will be cut from five days a week to four, operating only Monday – Thursday and in two locations instead of three. Last year, SIZZLE!® operated at the Easton Area Middle School, Cheston Elementary School and Forks Elementary School. Certain grade levels may also be eliminated.
According to ProJeCt’s Executive Director, Margaret Magee, “Unless ProJeCt can obtain additional funding for SIZZLE!® 2006, the number of children served will be reduced from 350 children at three sites to no more than 220 children at two sites. Given SIZZLE!®’s history of very positive outcomes for participating students, neither ProJeCt nor the Easton Area School District want to reduce the number of students served this year.” Because SIZZLE!® focuses on measurable academic outcomes and activities aligned with the PDE standards for reading, writing and mathematics, it serves as a bridge during summer months to support the school district’s progress toward state standards. Understanding the importance for parents to take an active role in their child’s education, SIZZLE!® also serves to enhance that experience. Last year, the program reached an all-time high for parental involvement with over six hundred people attending Family Fun Nights.
ProJeCt of Easton, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating in Easton since 1968, offers emergency assistance and language and literacy services to over 3,000 individuals each year. All of ProJeCt's services share the collective goal of helping individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency.
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ProJeCt of Easton, Inc. is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the Federal Surplus Property at 200 Ferry Street by the United States General Services Administration (GSA). The property is the former site of the Social Security Administration.
ProJeCt had applied to acquire the property from GSA through the United States Department of Education in late June to house expanded adult and family literacy services (including adult basic education, GED preparation and English as a Second Language instruction) and administration. The Bureau of Adult and Basic Literacy Education currently ranks ProJeCt’s Adult Literacy Program number two in the State of Pennsylvania for performance standards.
Board President Daniel Cohen, an early member of the ProJeCt Board, says, “This is an historic moment for ProJeCt – the creation of the first dedicated literacy center in downtown Easton. In a city where one-fourth of the adult population never completed high school, a literacy center meets a critical need. And that’s what ProJeCt’s mission has been since the beginning – recognizing needs in the community and providing resources to meet those needs.”
Acquisition of a building to house expanded literacy services was a crucial step in achieving goals associated with ProJeCt’s recently revised three-year strategic plan. The plan’s primary goal is to expand educational and emergency services by 25% so that more than 4,000 people move toward self-sufficiency.
Executive Director Margaret Magee says, “Our students, who so often just want a better life for themselves and their children, deserve the optimum environment in which to continue their education.” Given the resources, the possibilities afforded by additional space in ProJeCt’s Literacy Center will allow ProJeCt to:
- Operate five classrooms and a testing area without restrictions on operating hours;
- Integrate technology into instruction with the addition of a state-of-the-art computer lab further preparing students for growing technological expectations in the workplace;
- Expand services available for a growing population of individuals and families who speak English as a second language;
- Enhance the existing volunteer one-on-one tutoring program;
- Establish a resource center that will provide ready access to books for adult learners and their children as well as curriculum resources and materials for teachers;
- Provide confidential case management services in line with its holistic approach to community outreach and literacy instruction.
The property at 200 Ferry Street was a perfect fit for ProJeCt’s needs for several reasons. The location (just two blocks from their current facilities at 320 Ferry Street) makes the new site convenient for students who would need to meet with administration or drop their children off at early childhood education classes. The downtown location is also convenient to public transportation and other local services, including ProJeCt’s Interfaith Food Pantry and ASSIST services.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, ProJeCt was also thrilled to find a new location that wouldn’t take any existing tax revenue away from the City of Easton. The Federal Surplus property at 200 Ferry Street was built in 1972 for the purposes of the Social Security Administration and was never on Easton’s tax rolls.
ProJeCt will continue to maintain its current partnership with St. John’s Lutheran Church, which will continue to house the preschool component of ProJeCt’s Family Literacy Program, emergency assistance programs, Interfaith Food Pantry and main administrative offices.
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