Foundation Grant Adds Much-Needed Staff to After School Program

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Johnstown, PA (July 30, 2014) – A $15,000 grant from Brooks Foundation through the PNC Charitable Trusts Grant Review Committee is enabling The Learning Lamp to add a third staff member to each of its three after school outreach sites in Johnstown for the 2014-15 school year. This change will allow for staff to spend more one-to-one tutoring time with struggling students and provide a safer environment overall at each location.

“Many of the children in our program have learning disabilities that require our attention,” said Jenn Rager, The Learning Lamp’s outreach coordinator. “With only two staff members supervising 25 kids at each site, it’s hard to give our most struggling students the help they need. But with this contribution, we’ll be able to expand our staff and provide more support to the students who desperately need it.”

For nearly five years, The Learning Lamp After School Outreach Program has served at-risk children in the Johnstown neighborhoods of Moxham, Prospect and Oakhurst. The program began with two dozen children at one location in 2009 and now serves more than 100 children at three sites during the school year and up to 130 during six weeks of free summer camps. The after school program provides homework help, character-enrichment activities and a free meal Monday through Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.

For more information on the After School Outreach Program, visit thelearninglamp.org or contact Jenn Rager at 814-262-0732.

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The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. The Learning Lamp served 18,468 children from 70 school districts and 36 non-public and private schools and other organizations in 32 Pennsylvania counties in 2013.

Our programs include: one-to-one tutoring; before/after school programs; portable classrooms aimed at building math and science skills; alternative education programs for at-risk students; evidence-based prevention programs; online learning and credit recovery; SAT preparation; educationally-focused child care; literacy-based preschool programs; and grant writing and project consulting for schools.