Army grants $10,000 to depot school’s literacy project

Photo By Steve Grzezdzinski | A grant from the Department of the Army will allow Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Child, Youth and School Services center to implement a literacy project focusing specifically on social and emotional development.  

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA, UNITED STATES

07.22.2016

Story by Justin Eimers 

Tobyhanna Army Depot

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. — Recent research from the Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) has shown that children’s emotional and behavioral adjustment is important for their chances of early school success.

Thanks to a grant from the Department of the Army, Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Child, Youth and School Services (CYSS) center will soon implement a literacy project focusing specifically on social and emotional development.

The project includes purchasing materials – books, tablets and props – to build a Literacy Resource Library for the center. This initiative will help enhance and assist with implementation and expansion of the Army’s behavior support program.

“The goal is to make this type of development a part of the children’s everyday lives,” said Anne Wombacker, CYSS coordinator. That development will be aided by the new books addressing topics ranging from being a friend to problem solving to self-confidence to family relationships and more. The program aims to have 85 percent of children ages four through first grade reading at least one of the social emotional books from the list every week. The new literacy will also focus on building the vocabulary of the children. More than 150 children are currently enrolled at the center.

CYSS applied for a grant of $7,600 from a chunk of money the Army set aside for child and youth programs and received $10,000. The application included an overview of the proposed literacy project and research supporting it. Once the project is incorporated at the center, quarterly reports will be sent to the Army to capture its effectiveness.

“We’ve always had lots of books at the center but this new library will greatly enhance what’s available to the children,” said Wombacker. “The program will also provide training for the caregivers so they are able to recognize signs and be in tune with the children to meet their social and emotional needs on a daily basis.” Two, eight-hour training sessions will be conducted this September and next May for 30 caregivers at the center.

This summer, the center will implement the “Kindle Club,” a part of the literacy project where kids can download books on Kindle tablets and review them for their peers. The voluntary club will help children maintain their reading skills throughout the summer.
Wombacker estimates it will take a year to fully utilize the grant.

“We will have all the materials and supplies soon, but after the training sessions we will infuse new takeaways from that into the curriculum,” she said.

The center also received a $1,200 grant earlier this year for a garden project.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for C4ISR systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.
Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.

• Date Taken: 07.22.2016
• Date Posted: 07.22.2016 10:13
• Story ID: 204707
• Location: TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA, US