News & Photos
United Way Prepares Students And Teachers For ‘Back-To-School’ Success
August 01, 2012United Way Prepares Students And Teachers At Two Metro Elementary School For ‘Back-To-School’ Success
The school bell rang in the 2012-2013 year, and more than 1,000 students in two of Nashville’s neediest schools are more prepared than ever for success.
Every student at Napier Elementary School and Tusculum Elementary School started off on the right foot today when they received backpacks filled with school supplies from United Way of Metropolitan Nashville.
Each teacher at the two schools – almost 100 total – also received a resources kit containing teacher supplies, information on the United Way’s Family Resource Centers, 211 hotline tips, and other helpful information to further prepare students for success.
This marks the second straight year that United Way has visited Napier on the first day of school. Prior to the most recent school year, Napier test scores had been among the lowest in the city and the state. Thanks to a United Way-led innovative partnership between teachers, volunteers and corporate partners that gained momentum from last year’s first day event, the school saw gains of 2.2 reading levels among more than 85 percent of students that participated in a newly-established tutoring program.
Tusculum Elementary families got their first opportunity to experience the community’s encouragement first-hand as United Way provided backpacks of supplies to the more than 600 students. Tusculum is a school serving a high immigrant population in southeast Davidson County and the families of children attending the school speak more than 30 different languages.
Supplies distributed at Tusculum and Napier were collected during United Way’s Stuff the Bus, a summer-long school supply drive with multiple Days of Action that highlighted opportunities for the community to get involved and make a difference in the education and lives of Nashville’s at-risk children.
The Stuff the Bus program focuses on United Way’s larger work in the area of education, calling attention to the fact that every dollar invested in early childhood education has a 17-dollar return in benefit to our community, according to a study by the Federal Reserve.
During this year’s Stuff the Bus, United Way collected over 105,000 donated school supply items. Last Thursday, 446 volunteers representing 72 local companies stuffed 3,400 backpacks for distribution through 18 United Way Family Resource Centers and 26 partner agencies around the city.
Northwestern Mutual, The Pruett Financial Group was the presenting sponsor of all of United Way’s 2012 Stuff the Bus activities.
About United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
United Way of Metropolitan Nashville seeks to impact the education, financial stability and health of Nashvillians through partnerships, innovation and return on investment. Last year the organization produced a direct and identifiable impact of $55 million through its 2-1-1 Helpline, Family Resource Centers, Read to Succeed Program, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, Restore The Dream Partnership and Outcome-Based Investments. For more information about how United Way of Metropolitan Nashville is positively impacting the Nashville community, visit: http://www.unitedwaynashville.org.
