THE CITIZEN BLOG
THE CITIZEN BLOG
Look Who’s Talking - Talk With Me Baby @ Delta
Across Georgia, third grade reading scores have been consistently low. In fact, 58% percent of students are not reading at grade level. Learn about how Hands On Atlanta and our community partners are working together to ensure a bright future for all the children living in metro Atlanta.
Across Georgia, third grade reading scores have been consistently low. In fact, 58% percent of students are not reading at grade level. This is just one of the many alarming challenges students face across metro Atlanta.
At Hands On Atlanta, we’re focused on solving this public health crisis through our impact programs and strategic partnerships. A prime example of both, is the roll out of our Talk With Me Baby @ Work program. Since April 2018, we’ve been spreading the importance of language-rich interactions between parents or caregivers and their children. This work directly supports the research that indicates the number of loving words a baby hears in the first 3 years can make a huge difference.
The hope is that putting more of an emphasis on the first few years of life will improve kindergarten readiness, third grade reading scores, and life trajectory. Hands On Atlanta offers this program to companies and businesses as a free lunch and learn series as a way for organizations to support their working families. The Talk With Me Baby @ Work program consists of three, one-hour sessions:
Session One: Responsive Interactions, Brain Development and Developmental Milestones
Session Two: Becoming your child’s conversational partner, Serve & Return, Parentese, and Tier 1 & Tier 2 Words
Session Three: Interactive Storybook Reading
Delta and Talk With Me Baby @ Work
One of our early adopters and biggest supporters of our Talk With Me Baby @ Work program has been Delta Air Lines. Their passion to provide their staff the opportunity for stronger family dynamics and literacy nutrition led to a full-time employee volunteer facilitator, Kamaria Morgan, to lead the 3 Talk With Me Baby @ Work sessions.
““I thought that this was an excellent opportunity to incorporate this literacy program here at Delta because even as we were going through the sessions, I felt like I messed up on a couple of things. I wish I had this program when I was raising my children, and at Delta, this literacy nutrition program is very beneficial to all parents who attend.”
The program and trainings were led by our Family Literacy Programs Manager, Amanda Bisgaard, and the Delta facilitator was given all the resources for success. Resources include easy and innovative ways parents and caretakers can help end the word gap. And you guessed it, there’s even an app for that!
Children will now be prepared to start school, parents have direct access to the knowledge needed and the resources readily available, and the Working Families Resource Group reinforces their commitment to their members and extended families. It’s a win-win for the parents at Delta.
““The culture here at Delta, we’re all one family, always helping each other out, which is one of the many purposes of the Working Families Business Resource Group. We try to bring in those additional resources that employees may not have access to or aren’t aware of. We do this to help the parents and families faced with different dynamics in their lives, like raising young children and taking care of older parents or it’s a single mom needing resources or a family with a recent diagnosis of autism or cancer in their family. We bring in those additional resources for them.””
The “train the trainer” model is working, and not only at Delta, but at companies and organizations across metro Atlanta. The program is something parents and caregivers want, and with Hands On Atlanta offering this as a free service, there’s nothing to lose for companies!
Ready to bring Talk With Me Baby @ Work to your company or organization? Reach out to Amanda (contact details below) or click here for more information on how to get started.
To learn more about bringing TWMB@W to your office or organization, reach out to:
Amanda Bisgaard, Family Literacy Programs Manager
p: 404.979.2800 e: abisgaard@handsonatlanta.org
A Beginner’s Guide to Volunteering in 2019
Whether you’re a seasoned, volunteer pro or new to the world of service, and looking to make right on your new year’s resolution, we’ve got you covered. Check out these tips and fun ways you can roll up your sleeves and do something good in 2019.
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, in 2018, more than 1.2 million metro Atlanta volunteers contributed 105 million hours of service, worth an estimated $2.5 billion. Woah. Additionally, 42% of metro Atlanta residents do favors for their neighbors and more than half of y’all donated $25 or more to charity. Give yourself a high five!
If you're feeling inspired and looking to make right on your new year’s resolutions, we’ve got you covered with our Beginner's Guide to Volunteering. Whether you're a seasoned, volunteer pro, or just getting started, check out these tips and fun ways to do something good in 2019.
Make Time
Just like anything else in your life, if it’s not on your calendar, it’s probably not happening. You might have blocked time for the gym, to read that book, learn to cook, or to spend more time with your family, but don’t forget about scheduling time to volunteer! Simply adding time to your calendar is a great first step. Once you’ve set time aside, then you can browse our calendar of volunteer opportunities for projects Monday-Saturday.
Short on time? We get it, but don’t sleep on CareerVillage.org, where with just a few minutes of your time, you can answer career and college readiness questions for opportunity youth across metro Atlanta and beyond. Pro tip: This is a great time filler while running/walking on the treadmill.
Finally, you can take giving back with you by downloading Purposity’s free (and super slick) mobile app. Get one weekly notification of a need in our community, read their story and decide if you want to help, all from your phone.
Use Your Skills
Volunteering is more than painting a wall or planting trees (while important and bring a ton of positive impact to the community) and the need for skills-based volunteers is on the rise. Are you a lawyer, accountant, web developer…or have any kind of specific skill? The Atlanta nonprofit community needs your help!
A great first step is to reach out to an organization you’ve volunteered with in the past or would like to volunteer with in 2019 and ask if they could use your help.
[Insert phantom coughing noise here] we have a ton of skills-based volunteer needs here at Hands On Atlanta! For example, we’re looking for handy volunteers who can help write the instructions and do the assembly of beds and bedroom furniture for homeless and low income children.
Looking for something ASAP? To celebrate MLK Day, the United Way is hosting a Day of Innovation and looking for skills based volunteers to think up innovative solutions for some of our communities’ most complex problems.
On January 25-27, our buds at 48in48.org are organizing a 48-hour Super Service event and they’re looking for marketing and tech pros to help build 48 websites for 48 local nonprofits.
Why dip your toes when you can belly smack your way into skills-based volunteering!
Serve With a Friend
Whether out at a movie or on the bike path, having a partner in crime is always more fun. Bringing your bestie, a co-worker, or a significant other with you volunteering is the best. Check out these fun, daily, group friendly opportunities you can sign up for now:
Books for Africa – Hang indoors and pack boxes of books for children in Africa. Volunteers as young as 12 can serve and they can accommodate groups up to 40!
Dad’s Garage – Help out Atlanta’s top improv theater by checking ID’s, running the line at the bar, scanning tickets, ushering and more. The best part? You get to see the show for free! This is one of our more popular opportunities and they go quick.
Trees Atlanta – It will eventually stop raining… and when it does, you should totes help care for plants and projects around town with Trees Atlanta. They offer daily, morning and afternoon shifts, and plenty of fun.
Make New Friends
So, you’re new in town (welcome!) and swiping through your apps to meet someone new has grown old? Give volunteering a try. There’s no better way to meet good people than at a service project. Check out our TeamWorks! program and join our next Kick-Off on January, 26 for a fun and borderline competitive series of volunteer projects.
Our pals at Community Bucket have monthly service projects for young professionals that come stocked with a post event social and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network have bi-monthly volunteer events as well. No need to be a member to join, just more good people, doing good.
Want to try something different? You can create a space for people of diverse backgrounds to connect and come together to solve some of our city’s toughest challenges by hosting a Civic Dinner.
Make A Difference
Here in Atlanta, 3 out of 4 children considered “economically disadvantaged” are not reading on grade level by the 3rd grade. This is major because 3rd grade is the turning point for students when they start reading to learn and shift from learning to read.
There are lots of ways to help with these literacy challenges, including volunteering with our Discovery program. On Saturdays throughout the school year, volunteers read with, tutor and work with students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities. Learn more about Discovery and the impact volunteers create here.
The Pajama Program has a fun, daily opportunity to read stories with kids at their reading parties. You can read up to 4 books and engage the kids in conversation about the books after.
Get a jump start on solving the literacy challenges facing Atlanta’s youth by signing up to serve as a Talk With Me Baby @ Work facilitator. You’ll learn how to provide parents and caregivers the tools and strategies to support early brain and language development.
These are just a few ways you can start 2019 off on the right (service) foot! What other ways are you planning to give back this year? Let us know on Facebook, by commenting on this post.