Read to Learn
Some area children are now ready to take on the school year.
Volunteers with Ready, Set, Learn, a back-to-school program, handed out backpacks full of school supplies to qualified Dodge County children at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Aug. 14 and 15.
Kathy Connelly, a Hayfield counselor, said Dodge County has needs at all school levels and sometimes the counselors don’t know the back- stories, but regardless of the situation Ready, Set, Learn is available to help ease the burden.
Christi Kreigh, a high school counselor at Triton, said this event helps students by giving them everything they need for the school year.
“I think it’s good for everyone to start out on the same foot,” she said. “One way to do that is to make sure they have all the school supplies they need.” Having all the necessary supplies ensures the children are materially ready for the start of school, but it also helps them feel mentally ready.
Pat Dibble, coordinator with Ready, Set, Learn for the past five years, said having all the supplies helps children be more confident about the school year.
“I think it’s important so they feel like they’re ready,” she said. “They don’t have to worry about ‘well, I don’t have this.’”
Connelly agreed that having these school supplies helps children feel self-assured. “It’s fun to watch kids pick out a backpack of their choosing and to have school supplies put in and ready to go,” she said. “To be walking in that first day and feel like ‘I’m here, I’m ready,’ it’s huge.”
She said Ready, Set, Learn is transitioning to a non-profit status so donors can write off donations on their taxes.
Dibble said Ready, Set, Learn received donations from School-Age Child Care (SACC), the Care and Share program, the Dodge County United Way, and several local churches.
She said, thanks to those donations, they gave out school supplies to about 235 children.
Alana Milde, another volunteer from the Hayfield school system, said they couldn’t have helped so many children if it weren’t for the work of two important volunteers. “Without Pat Dibble and Tanya Young, this wouldn’t have happened,” she said.
Dibble said Ready, Set, Learn gives the volunteers a great opportunity to give back to their community.
She said the volunteers will take inventory of the school supplies leftover and allow the school counselors access to them should they hear about a child who needs something during the school year.