SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2018 | 7A
Musical duos play in
Florence for KXCR
BRAINS from page 1A
Each Common Core-aligned
learning module provides
project-based activities, em-
phasizing subjects that many
students lose over the summer
months.
“I’ve been so impressed with
this program and the results
it has had with other clubs,”
Trent said. “It’s all learning —
but like much of what we do,
we’re trying to make sure that
our kids all have what they
need to be successful. The key
to success is for kids to be able
to learn and grow, but it’s dis-
guised as fun. They don’t know
they’re learning. It’s amazing
to see, using something as sim-
ple as slime, that when you get
to talk about viscosity, and you
get to learn about elements as
well. That’s why I’ve been so
impressed.”
The program, which was
implemented this summer for
youth grades kindergarten
through ninth, also helps chil-
dren learn social coping mech-
anisms.
“We worked on standing up
to bullies and talking about
what standing up means to
them,” Gauderman said. “One
of their favorite activities was
making superhero capes. It
was their kindness capes. They
were kindness superheroes,
and they got to pick their su-
perhero power of kindness.”
“That’s why we wanted to
do this program,” Trent add-
ed. “Part of it is about coping
skills, and teaching the kids at
a young age how to handle the
problems that come up with
bullying and on and on.”
BGC staff believes the pro-
gram is important because of
the hard economic realities
facing some of the Siuslaw re-
gion’s families.
“In the summer, lower in-
come kids tend to lose two-to-
three months of learning, so
the minute they start school
in the fall, they’re already be-
hind,” Trent said. “That obvi-
ously creates problems for the
teachers. Not only does it cre-
ate stress for the kids and fam-
ilies, it creates stress for the
teachers as well because they
have to make up for this time.”
According to a June 2016 ar-
ticle by the Harvard Graduate
School of Education, the rea-
son some children lose learn-
ing lies in the affordability of
enriching activities that high-
er-income peers can more like-
ly receive. Vacations, museums
and library trips can be limited
when a single parent is strug-
gling to get by.
Jessica Dennison+Jones
Get out of those lawn chairs
and join at the Florence Uni-
tarian Universalist Fellowship
Saturday, July 14. Two bands
from Portland are performing
a benefit concert in support of
local nonprofit radio station,
KXCR 90.7 FM.
Casey Jarman and Ben
Hubbird’s duo, The Morals,
highlight the evening.
It’s not hard to sing Jarman’s
praises because of the number
of accomplishments he’s plied
up since leaving Florence.
Always self-effacing, he and
his friends have graciously
put down their busy Portland
lives to share their talent to
benefit KXCR and its mission
to bring relevant radio to our
town.
Jarman is especially inter-
ested to see and visit with old
school friends from his Siu-
slaw High days.
Jarman is proud to intro-
duce Jessica Dennison+Jones,
who have found a home on
the Jarman/Hubbird record
label, Party Damage Records.
“It promises to be a fun eve-
ning with two very different
bands,” said KXCR organiz-
ers. “The station couldn’t be
more pleased and happily the
musicians seem even more
so.”
The fellowship is located at
the junction of Heceta Beach
Road and Highway 101.
The doors open at 7 p.m.
and there is a suggested dona-
tion of $10.
Coffee, tea, healthy finger
food and snacks prepared by
KXCR volunteers will be of-
fered.
Guests over 21 years may
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“Because of the family work
and financial situation, our
kids are at a significantly high-
er risk for childhood hunger,
child abuse and school drop-
out,” Trent said. “We have 23
kids in 17 families that are
on Summer Program Schol-
arships. The average wage
for these families is $1,364 a
month. The average monthly
expenses are $1,348, with fam-
ilies having salaries in the $10
to $12 an hour range with no
benefits.”
A random sampling of in-
comes of BGC students showed
more dire circumstances. In
one instance, $733 came from
foster care payments and $250
from SNAP Food benefits. In
another example, one single
parent’s only income was $273
from child support and $504
from SNAP.
“With the cost of housing
and childcare today, it’s really
tough on families,” Trent said.
“Most of these kids are one bill
away from homelessness. One
major bill or a landlord de-
cides they’re going to sell the
place they’re staying in right
now, where do they go?
“I don’t think the vast major-
ity of people in this community
have any idea. They see home-
lessness on the street, and they
understand that because they
see it. What they don’t see is
this. I call them the forgotten
few, though it’s not just a few
anymore. It’s a lot more than a
few.”
As the Harvard report point-
ed out, these circumstances
can lead to a summer learn-
ing loss. On average, students
lose approximately 2.6 months
of learning in math over the
summer months, and teachers
have to give up weeks of class
time to make up for that loss
by reteaching subjects, the re-
port said.
And these losses lead to an
overall decline in student per-
formance.
“When we look at our En-
glish and math scores across
the state, they’re dismal,” Trent
said.
A 2016-17 assessment of
student knowledge showed
that only 41 percent of stu-
dents met national standards
in mathematics, down one
percentage point from the pre-
vious year, according to the
Oregon School Board Associ-
ation.
English Language arts was at
54 percent, and science was 61
percent, down two points from
the previous year.
Oregon’s graduation has
been steadily increasing over
the years. In 2014, the rate was
72 percent, while in 2017, the
rate was 77 percent, according
to the Oregon Department of
Education.
However, these numbers are
still well below the national
graduation rate of 84.1 per-
cent.
“When I started looking at
the numbers, I thought, ‘That’s
not okay. We have to do some-
thing about this,’” Trent re-
called.
He believes that Summer
Brain Gain can be an answer.
“Overall, we’re going to see
our dropout rates get better,”
Trent said. “We’re going to see
our math and literacy scores
get better. It’s because the kids
have help.”
For example, Gauderman
brought up a responsible mon-
ey management program that
teaches both math and finan-
cial skills.
“This week we’re learning
about money, and what the
benefits are in saving your
money, and spending your
money,” she said. “What’s the
difference between needing
something and wanting some-
thing.”
Gauderman does this by
teaching the concept of inter-
est.
“I give them three ‘dollars’
for working today,” she said.
Working comes from re-
sponsibility training, where
kids pick up five responsibili-
ties that they are in charge of
— picking up toys, cleaning up
after lunch or taking care of
their pets at home.
“If they save their money,
they’ll get interest so tomor-
row they will get another dol-
lar because of interest,” Gaud-
erman explained. “If you save
your money, you can buy a
bigger prize. The first prizes
were Tootsie Rolls. Some kids
wanted that Tootsie Roll the
first day, so they bought three
Tootsie Rolls instead of wait-
ing for the next day, where
they were offered a huge piece
of candy instead. So, the next
day, they got the big Tootsie
Roll, but they had the chance
to save again for another day
for something bigger. That was
our prize box.”
Gauderman is also teaching
children how to use a check
account, even designing their
own debit cards.
Trent sees two concepts at
play with the money program.
“Money management and
what things cost, and the
tradeoffs you make,” he said.
“And math, obviously, because
they’re trying to figure out
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what things cost.”
Trent hopes that these con-
cepts can carry over to the
home, which is particularly vi-
tal in situations where money
is tight.
“We want them to go home
and have these conversations
with their parents,” he said.
“‘Here’s what I learned today,’
and then ask questions to the
parents.”
If kids stick with BGC into
their adolescence, these skills
can grow, the club hopes.
“When they come to the
Teen Center and talk about ev-
ery kid having a job, they start
looking at how much a car
costs,” Trent said. “Or renting
a house, which also includes
utilities and on and on. All of
these things we’re starting at
the elementary program are
building blocks.”
Knowing how to manage
money will lead to questions
about how they earn it. Would
one job create a greater in-
come than another? What type
of lifestyle do kids want for
themselves once they get on
their own?
“If you want to flip burgers,
that’s great, if that’s what your
goal is,” Trent said. “But have
you thought about being an
airline mechanic or an accoun-
tant or a teacher? We want to
make sure kids aren’t locked
into generational poverty be-
cause they feel they’re locked
into something because they
don’t know anything else.”
Gauderman added, “We’re
not raising kids here. We’re
raising young adults. That’s
what we’re doing. These are all
little young adults. We want to
teach them life skills and learn
about the world. We want to
mentor them in the right di-
rection, but they are each their
own person. You’re not going
to change who they are. They
have their own opinions and
personalities.”
The established curricu-
lum of Brain Gain also helps
instructors like Gauderman,
who had to create her own ed-
ucational programs before.
“At first I was upset,” Gaud-
erman recalled about first
learning about the program.
“I’ll be honest, I went home
and cried when Chuck threw
this at me. I thought it didn’t
look fun. Even some of our
staff were intimidated. ‘I don’t
do so good in math. I under-
stand the concepts, but I’m no
good at taking tests.’ But when
you have a structured program
where you’re not doing all of
this curriculum on your own,
that has been well thought out
and well proven, it allows us
to have fun. If our staff isn’t
learning anything at the same
time as our kids, then this is
worthless.”
“That’s the secret sauce,”
Trent said. “The engagement
between the kids and the
staff. In a fun way, you create
this curiosity. It’s not tedious.
When you create that curiosi-
ty and you challenge the staff
as well, that’s the best of both
worlds.”
That shared curiosity has
created a stronger bond with
the children.
“You’re not talking to them,
you’re talking with them,”
Trent said.
And by talking with them,
Trent hopes that the future of
BGC’s children will be nothing
but gain.
For more information about
the Boys and Girls Club of
Western Lane County, visit
bgcwlc.org.
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