One of the best things your foundation can do is to just be a positive supporting partner to your district as our state works to transition to a distance learning model for the last month of school. Here are some ideas of ways you can help.
Social Media:
Social Media has become a major source of news and information during this time. If your foundation has a presence on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, now is a great time to post on a regular basis. There are many ways to engage your community. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Create a scheduled daily post with curriculum ideas. Parents are overwhelmed, and though there are many great online resources available, sorting through them can be very time consuming. Consider doing a daily post with an activity or virtual field trip. Ask families to share their experience or end product in the comments of your post and consider using a unique hashtag. For example, #MakerMonday could be a STEM activity using household items from a site like Funology. #FieldTripTuesday could feature one of many virtual field trips each week.
- Do a teacher feature to highlight how teachers in your district are working hard and adapting to reach their students. This kind of feel-good appreciation goes a long way in spreading positivity during this time.
- Is your district providing meal service for students? Highlighting the support staff working to make this possible is another great idea. In districts where all students are able to take advantage of these meals, promoting them and encouraging families to pick meals up can be key to the success of this program.
- Our high school seniors are missing out on so many important milestones. Is there a way your foundation can celebrate these kids? Doing some "Senior Shoutouts" to celebrate your valedictorian or a student athlete who had a season cut short is a great way to build community and show our students love. If your foundation gives scholarships to deserving seniors, highlighting those kids is a great way to show ways your foundation helps the school community.
Communicate and Collaborate with Partners:
- Help connect families in your district with other community services. Food resource centers, little free libraries, low-cost internet services and more are available to families in need. Your foundation can be a connecting point for families in your district.
- Be sure to communicate with your school district to determine how you can best support students at this time. Foundations do their best work when they are in sync with the district, schools and students they serve.
