Redwood City Public Library is partnering with San Mateo County Libraries again this summer to bring Big Lift Inspiring Summer to the Redwood City School District. The program is a four-week summer program offered free of charge to 1,200 low-income children in seven San Mateo County school districts. Inspiring Summers is made possible through generous funding from San Mateo County Measure K dollars, individual donors and private foundations.

 

Inspiring Summers is led by San Mateo County Libraries in partnership with the seven school districts and supported by the national non-profit Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). This multi-organization collaboration provides literacy instruction in the morning, taught by credentialed teachers following the BELL model. The afternoons are filled with exciting, hands-on STEAM activities led by San Mateo County Libraries' college interns. Interns work from a curriculum developed by San Mateo County Libraries and the Bay Area Discovery Museum's Center for Childhood Creativity. Curriculum focuses on child-directed, risk-friendly, exploratory activities on STEAM themes including Fairytale Engineering and Math All Around. Children in the program receive books for home libraries, and a library card. 

 

Overall, The Big Lift is reaching a population where 63% of children are Hispanic/Latino, 14% Asian, 7% Pacific-Islander. 40% of children come from single-parent/divorced/separated families, and 74% of children have mothers with a high school education or less. The average household income is $31,974 a year, well below the self-sufficiency income needed for a family of four in San Mateo County ($99,000).

 

We are proud to assist with this meaningful educational program! For more information, go here.