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Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD Students who attend the after-school program of Springfield Day Nursery (SDN) will receive an educational boost thanks to a grant from Comcast. On Thursday, Springfield education officials met with representatives from Comcast and SDN at the Sumner Avenue School for the debut of a new program to promote family literacy. Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Comcast Foundation, the SDN now has over-night bags with books and activities based on a number of educational themes. There were over 10 kits on display at the announcement ranging in subject matter from sea life to rain forests to mathematics. The "Hear Your Heart" kit comes with books, a model of the human heart and a stethoscope. A kit about mosquitoes comes with a large plush toy of a mosquito. Kathy Coleman, the vice president of after school programs at SDN, explained that the kits connected with the school curriculum and were designed to provide tools for learning into family time. Besides the books and activities, each kit has a journal in which each family can record their experiences with the materials, she added. SDN has after-school programs at Zanetti, Sumner Avenue, Brunton and Glickman Schools, and all of the kits will be at each school. School Superintendent Joseph Burke said the city has "tremendous gratitude to Comcast for extending this educational opportunity." Alyson Genovese, the community investment manager for Comcast, explained that the program has been in the planning stages for a year. Comcast has donated millions of dollars across the country to various non-profit organizations, but this was the first time the cable and communication company has funded a program such as this one, she said. Eighty children currently attend the SDN after-school programs. | ||||||
