Education

Kerstin served as a program leader for a third-grade Fun in the Sun class.  She grew up in Santa Barbara, but never realized the advantages she'd had.  Discovering the real toll of summer learning loss for students from low-income families was a revelation for Kerstin.  She came to realize how hard life could be for many of her students.  Each morning Kerstin's third-graders would discuss and then write about a "question of the day."  At the beginning, it was hard for some students to write more than a single sentence.  But by the end of the program, they were writing for almost 30 minutes

Alma only showed up a handful of times during the first weeks of Fun in the Sun.  When she was present she was silent, refused to participate and would ask to go home because of a "stomach ache."  But Alma's classmates were astute and noticed she was isolating herself.  They decided to include her in everything they did.  During a field trip to a swimming pool, Alma refused to go into the water.  That's when three girls came up and invited her to play.  Soon, all four girls were giggling and having fun.  In the midst of her insecurity, the community reached out and welcomed Alma.  Near the

Javiet is a bright-eyed, lanky 6th grader.  He is a natural leader, but is just beginning to realize it.  Javier is at ease with younger students and almost always has a crowd of kids following him around.  Even so, he had been a less-than-ideal student in the past.  He did not pay attention in class and expressed ambivalence towards teachers and authority figures.  One of our Fun in the Sun Program Leaders decided to take a different approach with Javier by asking him to lead.  He began by helping with younger children, then started to participate more in his own class.  These small shifts

For the Rowe family, reading and imagination are an integral part of everyday life. Orin, Kate, Spencer (2), and Donovan (4) have participated in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) for three years, and although they take advantage of Santa Barbara’s wonderful local libraries, Kate believes that it makes a difference that the boys are able to keep the books from the DPIL

When Colleen Russell was approached to lead a class of nine children in United Way’s Kindergarten Success Institute (KSI) at El Camino Elementary School, she leaped at the opportunity. Colleen grew up in Los Angeles and came from a family of educators. In recalling her childhood she reflected, “my mother and grandmother taught nursery school” it was a “natural” choice her to go into teaching. After graduating college, Colleen took a teaching position at South Central LA’s Lennox Elementary.

Ralph*, a bright, inquisitive student excelled in math but struggled with basic reading skills.  Though Ralph was getting ready to enter 4th grade in the fall, he was still reading at the 1st grade level.  Ralph's parents listed reading improvement as the primary learning goal when they enrolled him in the United Learning Center (ULC) Summer 2014 Pilot Program.

The United Way Campaign for the Common Good will mobilize millions of people and organizations across the country to take action and improve the education, income and health of America's communities. The campaign kicks off with a focus on education and an ambitious goal to cut the high school dropout rate in half.