As part of the Success By 6 initiative, the United Way of Southwest Minnesota wants to do what they can to help insure that children are prepared to succeed in school when they start kindergarten. To help parents have more of the tools they will need to work with their children in preparation for kindergarten, approximately 750 children (spring 2011) will receive a Wild About Kindergarten bag that contains items for children to practice with over the summer to build their school readiness skills.
Each bag included a personal sized dry erase board, pair of scissors, crayons, shapes to sort, a glue stick, foam letters and numbers, a book, worksheets and information for parents about how to maximize the benefit of the items and things they can do at home to build school readiness skills.
Schools distributing Wild About Kindergarten bags at their kindergarten round-ups were: Canby, Clarkfield, E.C.H.O. Charter, Holy Redeemer, Lake Benton, Lakeview, Lincoln HI, Lynd, Marshall, Marshall Area Christian School, Milroy, Minneota, Murray County Central, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Samuel Lutheran, School of St. Peter, St. Mary's, Tracy Area, Westbrook/Walnut Grove and Yellow Medicine East.
The bags were prepared by United Way of Southwest Minnesota Success By 6 Initiative and were funded by donations to the annual United Way campaign. Additional help with preparation of items was provided by North Star Mutual Insurance Company of Cottonwood and Henle Printing of Marshall. Student volunteers, PTA members or service groups at most schools also helped with assembly of the bags.
