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LEAVITTSBURG -- A new school year starts in the upcoming weeks for area students, and kindergarteners will start a new journey by going to school for the first time, although some have attended preschool or a Head Start program.
To help prepare kindergartners for the new school year, the LaBrae Local School District has hosted for the past three weeks its "Bounce into Bascom" program, which helps enhance the social, emotional and academic skills of kindergarten students.
Bascom Principal Maggie Kowach said the program helps the students get a head start and prepare for what to expect in kindergarten, which begins Sept. 3. Other students in first through fifth grades start Aug. 28.
Kowach said the program has taken place for more than 10 years and was originally known as "Success by Six" through the Trumbull County United Way and is now known as "Bounce into Bascom."
She said funding is coming from both the United Way and a private donor, with each giving $10,000. Kowach said the children starting kindergarten are "the true COVID babies" with many born in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic began.
"The goal is to prepare the children for kindergarten. Some of them have never attended preschool. We provide them kindergarten readiness. They learn to ride a bus and go to the cafeteria and go through a lunch line, how to pack and unpack their bookbags, write their name, and learn where everything is in the building such as restrooms or how to fill up water bottles at the drinking fountain. There is a social aspect of being in a classroom with other students and teachers. They learn to make friends,'' Kowach said.
She said the program is for four hours per day five days a week for three weeks and will conclude Friday. Kowach said 27 children attended the program.
"The children gain confidence by being in the program and are ready for the first day of kindergarten and the school routine. They get to know the teachers, bus drivers, the cafeteria staff," she said.
Kowach said if a quarter of the children are used to the cafeteria and getting in line and getting their lunch and milk, that helps the other children, who can follow their lead.
Christine Cope, CEO of the United Way, said the money provided is used for supplies and materials for the program.
Kowach said the LaBrae Board of Education also provides materials for the program and transportation through busing.
She said parents marking the first time their son or daughter is attending kindergarten also benefit by having their child have access to the school in the summer to become familiar with the classroom and the teachers.
"They see that their child will be okay at school,'' Kowach said.
The kindergarten students also will attend screenings and orientations on Aug. 28 and 29 and Sept. 3.
Sophia D'Alesio, a first-grade teacher who instructs Bounce into Bascom, said the students take part in learning activities such as sounds, letters and school procedures.
Destiny Johnson, kindergarten teacher, said students learn the proper way to cut with scissors or to hold a pencil when writing their name.
"With there being a smaller class size, we can provide one on one assistance. They have arts and crafts time, which they may not have at home," she said.
Johnson said the students become more confident as the weeks go by.
"Their little personalities are starting to come out,'' she said.
Stacey Biery, school librarian, said her son assisted with the program one year and now is training to become a kindergarten teacher.