Win Win Gets Funding Boost for 2002
KEENE, N.H. 1/11/02 Win Win, a program organized by Keene State College for sixth and seventh grade students at Thayer Middle School, has had its funding renewed by the Nellie Mae Foundation. The $88,000 grant, received this month, will enable the program to cover its costs through December 02.
The program is part of the Early College Awareness Project, a partnership between Keene State College, Thayer Middle and High School, Winchester Elementary School, Communities and Schools Together (CAST) and Monadnock Family Services. It was designed to counter the high rate of high school drop- outs in Winchester, by providing middle school students with academic tutoring, recreational and social skills activities, and college and career guidance. It was introduced as a six-week pilot project in March 2000 and became a full-time program that October. About 50 middle school students, more than double the number of last year, regularly attend Win Win sessions, says Hannah Hurlburt, the programs coordinator.
Hurlburt says she is thrilled with the new grant. It means that we can keep providing ways for kids to remain interested in attending school, in an area where the trend is for kids to drop out, she said.
Thayer High and Middle School principal Carol Fritz strongly supports the program. Win Win is positive encouragement for kids to plan for the future, she said.
The grant will enable Hurlburt and Mary Whithed, the programs head instructor, to continue increasing the range of activities and tutors available to students.
This year, Win Win also plans to collaborate with a number of local organizations to create programs that provide career and life skills, says Hurlburt. Programs already in place include a course to protect children from bullying through Womens Crisis Services in Keene, college and career preparation workshops through the N.H. Higher Education Assistance Foundation, and recreation and adventure skills development through Monadnock Family Services and the Keene Family YMCA.
For more information, contact Hannah Hurlburt, ECAP coordinator, at 358-2144, and Carol Fritz, principal of Thayer Middle and High School, at 239-4381.
