Dear Friends of The Learning Trail,
We hope that you are well. What a turbulent and challenging time we are experiencing!
We, at The Learning Trail, were very disappointed to cancel our Summer Camp due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And then disappointed again that we could not commence after-school tutoring as usual. Now, however, the County has returned students to school in a hybrid model, learning both in-person and virtually. Accordingly, we resumed our in-person tutoring program for grades K-4 in February 2021. That gave us time to observe and learn from the school’s experience in screening, social distancing, and modifying the curriculum, as needed.
In the meantime, we prepared the classrooms—cleaning and disinfecting, improving ventilation, rearranging furniture to promote social distancing, and setting up our own screening procedures to make sure that we can create a safe and healthy environment for students, staff, and volunteers.
We are happy to share with you that we have hired a new preschool teacher, Ms. Mandy Monroe, who began teaching a small group of 3-year-olds starting in mid-November, assisted by one of our Nature Trail mothers, Griselda Vazquez. Due to the coronavirus, we will not call upon any of our devoted volunteers until the community health environment improves.
The Learning Trail has been very fortunate to receive generous grants from several organizations. Chatham County and the United Way have provided funds to cover the salary of our Early Child Specialist and the Women of Fearrington are funding our new Learning Trail Literacy Project for Grades K-5. This project will feature fun reading experiences including book shares, book reviews, and books to take home to enjoy with the family. We hope to instill a lifelong love of reading.
We were delighted to award Kenia Delucio this year’s scholarship from the Carol Tomason Legacy Fund (shown here with Carol’s husband, Bruce). This goes to a high school graduate who previously attended the Learning Trail tutoring program, and shows dedication and determination to continue their education after graduation. She thanked TLT “for all the support in making one of my biggest dreams come true.” She enrolled in the Aveda Institute of Chapel Hill and will receive a certificate in Salon Business Management next summer, 2021.
We look forward to being able to serve all of our students and their families, as soon as we can safely return to full operation. Now more than ever, we need to provide the academic and social support that low-income families need to navigate these stressful times. In the meantime, we truly appreciate our friends and supporters who sustain us.
Wishing you all the best,
The Learning Trail
