Community Investment Profiles
WARREN SPARK FINDS GREAT SUCCESS IN FIRST YEAR OF
HELPING WARREN CHILDREN GET READY FOR KINDERGARTEN
Kathie Marando remembers the moment when a withdrawn 4 year-old, who used to cling to her father and rarely look at anyone else, decided that she didn’t want to miss out on any more fun. “Gradually, the dad started moving away from her and pretty soon, he was on the other side of the room and she stayed at the table with the others and was laughing and smiling.”
Marando, director of Warren Spark,
Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids,
has become an evangelist for the two-year-old program which pairs 4 year-olds and their parents with “parent partners” to help ready the children for Kindergarten.
Marando recalled that the breakthrough moment for the particularly shy 4 year-old came during one of the special evenings that Warren Spark holds at the elementary schools. The children enrolled in the program, their parents and their “parent partners” from SPARK come to the school to play games, read and socialize.
“The dad was desperate. You could see the look on his face. She wouldn’t partake in any of the activities until all of a sudden, she changed her mind,” Marando said.
Warren Spark, now serving children from two city elementary school areas, is a 12-month program where parent partners visit the 4 year-olds at their homes and work with them and their parents on a different lesson each month.
The lessons are designed to improve the childrens’ academic, social and communication skills so that they will have better success when they enter Kindergarten the following year. All lessons are geared to a different book and they then have specially geared hands-on activities for those books.
For instance, the book “Bunny Cakes” chronicles the story of Ruby and Max and their hilarious but flawed efforts to make a special birthday cake for grandma.
In addition to asking the children to think about what Ruby and Max could have done differently to actually get the cake baked, the activities are also intended to engage the children with their parents in an activity. Just after reading the book, the parents are asked to play “pat-a-cake” with their children. Next, the SPARK parent partner will suggest that the parent and child work together to make a cake of their own.
“Let your child stir, crack the eggs, measure and decorate. Make sure your child washes their hands after cracking raw eggs,” the Spark instructions said.
Warren SPARK, one of five SPARK programs operating in the state, was developed and funded by the Kellogg Foundation and brought to Ohio by the Sisters of Charity of Akron. When officials of The Raymond John Wean Foundation heard about the program, they were excited about the possibility of doing something to help improve the struggling Warren City Schools. The Raymond John Wean Foundation pledged $500,000 to help operate the program for three years.
Marando said the investment has already paid off.
After only one year, test results show that SPARK students are outperforming Kindergartners who did not go through the 12-month program. In fact, a key part of the SPARK program is the monitoring and assessment being performed by Dr. Peter Leahy, a professor at the University of Akron.
Leahy studied the Kindergarten preparedness of the Warren children who had gone through the SPARK program and those who did not and found that the SPARK students were scoring a full three points above their counterparts.
Marando explained that one of the large challenges facing the Warren City Schools is the fact that many students come to Kindergarten without skills needed to succeed. So, she said, they start off their academic careers already behind and it becomes difficult for them and their teachers to find success.
During the 2008 to 2009 school year, 42 children were enrolled in the SPARK program and nearly 50 are in the program this academic year.
Marando said she would love to see the program expanded to serve children in Warren’s two other elementary schools, but she said it will require more funding.
In early 2010, talks were also just beginning about bringing the SPARK program to the Youngstown City Schools as well.
Marando said the program truly works but does require sustained effort and intense follow-through.
She said the enrolled children and their parents come to look forward to the monthly visits and get deeply disappointed if they ever have to be cancelled or moved. “This means the world to these children and to their parents,” she said.
“We’ll have children sitting in the windows watching for our parent-partners to come,” she said.
Marando said some parents have gone to great lengths to attend the quarterly family fun nights or to keep their appointments with the parent-partners.
For instance, one mother had been ill and was hospitalized and as soon as she was released, she drove herself to the family fun night so that she wouldn’t miss it. Another parent had the Spark parent-partner come to the hospital where she was visiting a sick relative to conduct the monthly meeting.
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