Electricity Maine Employees Donate Children’s Books To Literacy Program

Employees of Electricity Maine recently donated 80 books to the RSU 1 Adult Education Sail into Literacy program.

SAIL into Literacy was established with funds from the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy  4 years ago. The program is unique due to the collaboration with Bath Regional Career and Technical Center (BRCTC) . The secondary students who participate in the Early Childhood Occupations program at BRCTC, along with their instructor, run an Early Learning Center for the children of the SAIL families. This program is run simultaneously with the Adult Learning Center.

kidsThis collaboration allows the parents to study for their high school completion credential without the worry of finding reliable daycare. The BRCTC students plan age appropriate curriculum for the birth to 4 year olds who attend. The parents are thrilled with the school readiness and socialization skills their children are attaining. A quote from a SAIL dad ” I love the social experiences my daughter is getting. She loves coming to school.”

The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is an Electricity Maine partner.  Core Partners are non-profit organizations that work to help residents obtain the skills and resources they need to create better lives for themselves and their families.  Electricity Maine supports these programs through specific rate plans in which we donate 2% of electricity supply.

kids2“We believe every person in America has the right to read. Parents are a child’s first teacher and with 30 million adults in the country lacking basic literacy skills, we must all work together to help families improve their educational levels. Our partnership with Electricity Maine supports the Barbara Bush Foundation as we invest in the education of Maine’s children and their parents.”  Becky Dyer, Director of Research and Program Development at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

 

The SAIL program has affected the lives of nearly 50 families to date. 99% of the parents of these families have earned their high school completion, and 7 have gone on to college. This year the SAIL program received a grant with Women, Work and Community from the Davenport Foundation.This has allowed WWC to spend 3 hours a week with the SAIL families helping them with the creation of resumes and cover letters, completing interest profiles, applying for employment, job searching. applying to college and college tours.

Posted on November 25, 2013 in Electricity Maine

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