Women United
In 2001, the Women United affinity group of the United Way of Anderson County made a commitment to support Teen Pregnancy Prevention and has a seen a reduction of 62% in Anderson County teen births. Our school districts will now absorb the responsibilities of running this program in each of their schools, and Women United will embark on conquering another prevalent issue.
Our Women United group came together and began brainstorming the current needs in Anderson County. The issue of childhood literacy was brought to the table; and upon further review, we discovered the negative consequences this can bring in a child’s life.
A New Focus
We began to look at examples of programs that focused on early-age literacy and found Camp iRock. In 2019, a pilot program was put in place in Anderson School District 1 with a 100% success rate. All 65 students earned the privilege to advance to the 4th grade.
Camp iRock is an intensive 8-week program that focuses on reading remediation work, character building, and physical activity. The camp includes transportation to and from camp; breakfast, lunch, and snacks; high quality reading instruction in a small group environment; swim lessons; field trips; and traditional summer camp games and activities.
Based on the success of Anderson School District 1, Women United has chosen to expand the Camp iRock program across our county. This camp will be a partnership with the United Way of Anderson County, Anderson University, Anderson Area YMCA, and Anderson County School Districts 3, 4, and 5. The camp will plan to begin in June of 2021.
According to famous author Dr. Seuss, “The more you will read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.” This project has the potential to make change for generations to come and provide endless possibilities for our Anderson County children to achieve the highest success!
For more information on Women United, please contact Britton Rodgers at britton@uwandsc.org.
