Congregations for Children (C4C) awarded grants to nine churches that planned summer programs for children to remediate and reinforce literacy skills. Trinity UMC in Red Springs purchased Amazon Fire tablets with the grant funds to use during their two-week summer reading camp for K-3rd grade students. Seven students participated in the camp, along with two volunteers, the church secretary, and the pastor.
Students participated in group reading instruction, used instructional apps on the Amazon fire tablets to help improve their reading skills, and were provided books to take home each night for additional reading practice. The camp volunteers provided a pre-test and a post-test to measure the effectiveness of the instructional activities. “On average, the children’s reading proficiency increased over the two-week period.” Rev. Reginald Oxendine said, “overall, we experienced a successful summer reading camp, and we hope to build on our successes as we plan for next year.”