The Iron Sharpening Iron summer program will serve Manatee County youth at the
Kelly-Brown Career Development Center and the Anna Gayle STEM Center in Palmetto
PALMETTO, FLORIDA - Educational Consultants Consortium, Inc. (ECCI) has been awarded a $15,000 Equity and Access grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to support the 2022 Iron Sharpening Iron summer program, which provides Manatee County youth in grades VPK-12 with age-appropriate enrichment activities to support literacy, academic retention, character development and career exploration.
Participants will spend four days per week engaged in projects including the Suncoast Summer Reading Challenge, and sessions dedicated to subject area tutoring, literacy, the arts, health, college and career readiness, while building friendships with peers. The program seeks to address both the symptoms and root causes of systemic inequities which put youth at greater risk for academic and behavioral issues.
“We must keep our children engaged during the summer months in order to address the challenges of summer learning loss and lack of summertime supervision while parents work. Providing our youth with an opportunity to get a head start on the next academic year and begin thinking about career paths early will put them in the best position for success,”says Barbara A. Harvey, executive director of ECCI. Funding for Iron Sharpening Iron is provided in part by the Equity and Access grant of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
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About Educational Consultants Consortium: Educational Consultants Consortium, Inc. (ECCI) is a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving Manatee County children and families since 1995, with a special focus on the “corridor” area of Palmetto, one mile east and west of US41. ECCI provides weekly after-school academic support, college and career exploration, health and wellness education, in addition to a breadth of cultural and social enrichment opportunities, including summer programming. ECCI services are provided at the Kelly-Brown Career Development Center and the Anna Gayle STEM Center in Palmetto, Florida. For more information, or to register your child for ECCI programs, visit www.servingeverychild.com.
About the Community Foundation of Sarasota County: The Community Foundation of Sarasota County is a public charity founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council as a resource for caring individuals and the causes they support, enabling them to make a charitable impact on the community. With assets of $520 million in more than 1,570 charitable funds, the Community Foundation awarded grants and scholarships totaling $27.5 million dollars last year in the areas of education, the arts, health and human services, civic engagement, animal welfare and the environment. Since its founding, the Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $350 million to area nonprofit organizations to our community thanks to the generosity of charitable individuals, families, and businesses. For more information, visit www.CFSarasota.org
or call (941) 955-3000.