Summer Resources

Summer is a time of family vacations and trips to the pool for many. But for some, summer is just another version of the same daily struggle. Your United Way contribution is hard at work while school is out, helping kids and families stretch resources and keep kids academically engaged.

KAPP “PowerUP” summer Kindergarten Academic Prep Program is provided through a partnership with YWCA of Northeast Kansas and Topeka Public Schools and helps prepare incoming kindergarten students who were not able to attend preschool. The program gives new students a boost academically and socially, helping them be more ready to succeed when they start school in August.

Pine Ridge Prep Preschool combats the "summer slide" with its Summer at the Ridge session, keeping their young students engaged with activities, play and field trips.

United Way is the lead partner for the Shawnee County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR). The partners in the Campaign collaborate year-round to help students be fluent readers by the end of third grade. The Campaign for Grade Level Reading is a 10-year effort to move the needle on third-grade reading proficiency and address the developmental and academic targets that children need to be successful. Local campaigns help promote policies that lead to better coordination and alignment of services, improve instruction and evaluation, and tackle obstacles to achievement, such as chronic absence, summer learning loss and a lack of school readiness.

Summer Food Service sites offer free meals (breakfast and/or lunch) to any youth 18 and under. There are no registration or income requirements, just show up and eat! Sites in Shawnee County also offer enrichment activities thanks to a partnership with United Way, the Shawnee County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and corporate partners like Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas. Find a summer food service site in Kansas at bit.ly/KSSummerMeals.

And don't forget that kids ride free on Topeka Metro all summer long!
https://topekametro.org/kids-ride-free-may-15-august-15/