The United Way of St. Charles and Monsanto have teamed up to purchase computers and developmental software in an attempt to make sure all children in the parish are educationally prepared for first grade.
The program is part of Success By 6, which is mirrored after the United Way of America’s National SB6 model. That model promotes the concept that by age six, all children inside the parish will attain the necessary mental, physical, social and emotional development that they need to grow and learn.
Monsanto stepped up by donating 30 computers to the cause, and the company will continue to donate 30 computers a month for the next several months. UWSC spent between $40,000 and $50,000 to make sure those computers had monitors, keyboards, mouses and software.
“The board and staff at the United Way of St. Charles Parish is committed to helping children in St. Charles Parish be prepared for school by age 6,” John Dias, executive director of the United Way of St. Charles, said. “Success By 6 is our program to address this need.”
Dias says that the UWSC is funding almost $50,000 for the initial stages of the program and should improve on that total next year.
The keyboards are geared towards young children between the ages of 3 to 5 because they are color coded for consonants, vowels, numbers and symbols. Each mouse also resembles an animal and all the computers are Internet safe.
The software comes from HATCH, which is an early childhood education solutions provider. Some of the software programs that were purchased include Millie’s Math House, Bailey’s Book House, Sammy’s Science House and Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s. There is also a software program that helps the young children learn important language skills.
The computers, along with monitors and software, were distributed to nine child care centers in the area that lacked the important resource.
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