COVID relief funds to bolster summer program for incoming US students – InForum

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FARGO — A Fargo-Moorhead nonprofit that provides tutoring for children of New Americans is among 11 organizations that have received funding for summer apprenticeship programs from the Dakota Department of Public Instruction. North.

The Department of Public Instruction has split its $200,000 share of federal education grants targeting COVID-19 student learning recovery into grants of $5,000 to $20,000 to help with teaching summer courses on computer coding, robotics, engineering, music, drama, English, and even outdoor activities like rock climbing.

One of the organizations that received a $20,000 grant was the South Sudanese Fargo/Moorhead Foundation, a nonprofit that teaches children of New Americans, according to a Department of Instruction press release. public.

“Many of our schools in North Dakota already offer summer college programs that help students avoid the “summer slip” in their learning, or allow them to get additional instruction in certain subjects. These grants will help to expand these programs and make them more widely available,” Kirsten Baesler, superintendent of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, said in a news release.

The South Sudan Foundation of Fargo/Moorhead was created as part of the ESHARA Group, a conglomerate of seven new American nonprofit organizations trying to help their communities navigate school, work and life in North Dakota.

Matuor Alier, a community leader and director of equity and inclusion for Fargo Public Schools, is also involved with the foundation, which began in a church basement.

Classes are now held at an office on South 28th Street, but the foundation, which primarily helps students from kindergarten through middle school, will soon have a new home.

“We’ve started to bridge that educational gap for new American students who don’t get any help from home and help them catch up with their peers,” Alier said. “When the pandemic happened, the gap widened,” as these students have little or no help with their homework.

Many immigrant parents cannot read or write English because they grew up in refugee camps, Alier said.

When children were sent to distance learning, new American students fell behind because their parents had no way to help them learn, he said, adding that the foundation offered tutoring. individual for high school students.

“I was able to help my children, but my neighbors who don’t speak English or can’t read couldn’t help theirs,” Alier said. “Most of the time, children are the interpreters of their parents.”

With an average of 40 students per day, the foundation offers classes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The grant money will be used to hire tutors and help pay for lunches, Alier said.

Other organizations that have received funding from the Department of Public Instruction include: Turtle Mountain Community School in Belcourt, North Dakota Gateway to Science in Bismarck, International Music Camp in Dunseith, Haley’s Hope Dyslexia Learning Center in West Fargo, and Bison Cyber ​​Camp in Fargo.

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