GREENE COUNTY
Victory Train, an early childhood education program in Greensboro, is committed to empowering parents with the necessary skills and resources to enhance students’ educational paths in school.
It has proven to be a good resource to the Greene County school system by partnering with teachers and students throughout the district.
The organization featured a presentation at this month’s Board of Education meeting to expound on its partnership and goals for students.
Teresa Kemp is the president of the organization and previously served as a chairperson for Greene County’s Habitat for Humanity.
She claims her interest in establishing Victory Train came from her experience with Habitat and recognition of the need many families have to jumpstart and reinforce a child’s educational experience in the school system.
“The program consists of the distribution of targeted learning materials sent home or given to parents at the school system,” Kemp said. “We primarily focus on pre-K, Kindergarten, and students up to third and fourth grades. By focusing on high-risk children, we can help secure higher graduation rates in the future.”
The Greene County school system goal developed with Victory Train is to ensure that all students enter school ready for kindergarten.
Kindergarten-ready students who have successfully partnered with Victory Train have successfully mastered an understanding of upper and lower case numbers; are aware of print concepts (top to bottom, right to left); knowledge of basic colors; knowledge of number recognition (1-20); and be able to write numerals and how to write their names. All these skills have proven to jump-start early skill sets for children.
Currently, the program serves a total of 296 children. Its goal is to enroll and participate with upwards of 350 children by December of this year. It enlists the support of volunteer parents and teachers who distribute the materials and engage participation.
Victory Train’s materials include a weekly lesson packet for parents in reading, math and physical well-being. Volunteers meet in both individual homes and at school with the children. It also includes a special summer camp program and works with parents on coaching to reinforce the educational goals of their children.
According to Kemp, the Victory Train process has proven to be a success within the schools.
“When first started, it became apparent that more than 50 percent of children were not kindergarten ready,” Kemp said. “We recognized a need to begin to build those numbers to ensure success within the program. We wanted to help our parents by delivering books and materials. We currently have several parent volunteers who have been key to giving the gift of education here in Greene County.”
Victory Train believes the organization and the partnership with the GCSS have helped build a pathway to graduation. Beyond proving to be an excellent transition between home and school, other benefits realized with the GCSS have been a higher participation rate in pre-K, higher levels of parent engagement, support and proven readiness to be kindergarten ready. It is supported by donations from those in the community and area businesses.