LearningTree Games is proud to announce the first recipients of its Education Grant Program. Each organization will receive a $500 grant toward projects that help enhance the learning environment for less advantaged or at-risk youth.

2006 Grant Recipients: SUMMER SEARCH and MANCHESTER PROJECT PLAY.

We believe every child should have a chance to learn and grow to be self-confident, independent adults. We believe it is important to invest in our communities by highlighting and supporting those who making our communities a better place by creating better learning opportunities for every child, regardless of economic welfare or ability.

LearningTree Games created its annual Education Grant program so that we may invest in the communities that we serve across the US. We hope with the support of our loyal customers, to increase the number and amounts of each grant every year; by shopping with us, we, together, can expand our support for communities, children and families everywhere. Thank you for your support of our store, and the deserving recipients of our 2006 awards.

For information about our 2007 awards, please come back to visit us in the spring.

Apply for our 2007 awards!

The LearningTree Games Team

Summer Search

Summer Search is a non-profit organization that inspires low-income high school students to become responsible, altruistic leaders. The organization selects students who show potential for resiliency in the face of significant adversity, and provides year-round mentoring, college advising, life-changing summer experiences and a lasting support network. 26% of the Summer Search students live under the poverty line. 100% graduate from high school, 93% go onto college (of that group, 89% graduate from college or remain on track to do so -compared with 12% of low-income students nationwide), and 90% of Summer Search students are the first in their families to attend college. Summer Search college graduates earn the opportunity to hold jobs that they may not have had access to without the confidence, mentoring and network that Summer Search programs support.

The organization was started in the San Francisco Bay Area by Linda Mornell. She saw the life-changing impact that summer experiences like Outward Bound offered teenagers, but realized how few minority and low-income students were enrolled in these expensive programs. After the first 14 students returned from their amazing summer experiences, she was quickly struck by the difficulties these students faced reconciling their tremendous growth over the summer with the ever-present challenges in their homes, schools and communities. She concluded that one intervention is not enough, and that students required sustained intervention to help them overcome the limited environments from which they came. Founded in 1990, the organization now operates from program sites in San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Seattle and San Jose, and is comprised of mentoring staff, alumni and volunteers from the local communities, who serve an alumni base of over 2000 Summer Search graduates, and in 2006, will place over 750 students in 76 different summer experiential programs around the world.

Here are brief profiles of some of the Summer Search alumni and current participants:

• Solaria always wanted to be a leader, but the only way she had known how was in a gang. After Solaria attended a summer enrichment program, she got a lot of pressure to return to the gang. But she said ‘no, I have a life now.’ Solaria graduated from Harvard Business School in 2005.
  
  

• Carlton’s mother was frequently incarcerated, and at age 5 he was beaten and tossed out a window by an abusive uncle, leaving him with brain damage, compromised hearing and vision loss. At age 15, he was interned at Juvenile Hall for car theft, possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. Despite his traumatic history, Summer Search enrolled him in a summer program specializing in helping kids who had difficulty learning, and he went from being an illiterate 18 year old to a high school graduate. Carlton now serves as Director of Community Outreach and videographer for Summer Search San Francisco.
  
  
  
  

• Robert was raised by a single mother with limited financial resources. Despite his drive and talent, Robert might have fallen into a life of chaos given the challenging circumstances in his life. However, Robert was extremely resourceful and took advantage of internship positions in investment banking while in high school, and after graduating from Columbia University in 2.5 years, he became the youngest business analyst hired by McKinsey & Co. Robert credits Summer Search with “opening doors” and broadening his perspective. His trip to Wyoming and community service in Guadeloupe helped him develop his values and character, and while teaching him the importance of taking responsibility for himself to realize his dreams.
  
  
  
  

• Natasha writes, "My brother was a drug dealer at 14, and my mom would steal his money to buy drugs for herself. At one point, we lived in a crack house. My sister was my mom, but when she left home to attend a program that would help her get into college, I was left alone. A Summer Search counselor took me in and became my guardian. I’ve tried to hide my past because I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. Now I realize that you can’t bury your past or you end up alone, and sharing my story has lifted a huge rock from my heart. But my past does not define who I am, and Summer Search has helped me forgive, and see that I am a beautiful, smart and gifted individual who is looking forward to the future."
  
  
• Jason reflects, "Because of my turbulent childhood with an abusive alcoholic father, I had developed a negative attitude toward life, and ditching classes and doing drugs had earned me a reputation as a stoner with a .9 GPA. I was used to being ignored and being told that what I had to say didn’t matter. The positive reinforcement as well as critical pointing out of my negativity helped me change the way I interacted with everyone around me. Although the social aspect was a huge influence, my academic accomplishments are what I am most proud of. I almost quit when it got hard, but I gave it my all and actually won an award for excellence. Summer Search has influenced the direction of my life."

The LearningTree Games Education Grant will be used to provide a first-year student with a full scholarship to a summer experiential education program, intensive long-term mentoring, and access to private resources including college counseling and internships. Melissa Rawlins, San Francisco site director adds, "The annual goal of each Summer Search site is to increase coverage in community areas where needs are greatest. Our outreach to teachers and guidance counselors in each of these areas, to nominate low-income students that possess the personality characteristics of resiliency, altruism and achievement in some aspect of their lives, is key. This generosity from our volunteers helps us meet this objective. However we couldn’t expand our support without additional funding, and the LearningTree Games Grant will help us meet our goal of increasing the number of students we serve each year. We are grateful."

For more information or to become involved in Summer Search as a volunteer mentor from the business community, or provider of internships, please visit their website at www.summersearch.org.

Manchester Project Play

Manchester Project Play is a New Hampshire-based non-profit, started by moms with special needs children. The organization is committed to raising funds for the Parent-Teacher Organization of the Selma Deitch Early Learning Program, to provide appropriate play spaces for the 300+ preschoolers who are enrolled in the program, many of whom have been identified as developmentally delayed, or having a special need. Many students have also been identified as at risk, and are funded by Title 1. To date, the organization has purchased toys and equipment for two of the sites, and overhauled another with new groundcover.

The Selma Deitch Early Learning Program (SDELP) is committed to providing comprehensive, high quality early intervention for its young students in the belief that early learning will last a lifetime. The program is comprised of four early learning centers located in the Manchester school district. The program’s mission carries on the legacy of Manchester native, Dr. Selma Deitch, a devoted advocate for children’s policy and public health reform, who believed that in order for children to succeed in school, they need to be healthy and have equal access to high quality early education.

The Smyth Road Elementary Site, one of the four sites operated by SDELP, has been identified for a playground specially adapted to serve the needs of autistic children. The LearningTree Games Education Grant will be used by Manchester Project Play to kick off the fundraising effort for this project, by helping to fund development of a web site and informational brochure to inviting donor support. A preschool playground that is autism-friendly, offers transition space, where kids can sit and observe others playing, special groundcover, such as rubberized surfaces that are wheelchair friendly, a perimeter track, with walking and riding toys that provide vestibular stimulation for autistic children, equipment and space that encourages social play, such as two seated horses and a round open interactive play area, and a sitting area for calming down. All of these features are planned for inclusion in the renovated playground.

This is what the Smyth Road Elementary playground looks like today.

Currently, the playground is covered with sand, which is not friendly to wheelchairs, and is not a desirable surface for autistic children because they tend to fixate on it or eat it. The equipment is not designed with any sensitivity around sensory integration, as there are lots of areas with small, dark spaces that allow children to hide under things, which autistic children tend to do. In addition, none of the equipment encourages social interaction, offering two children something to do together, which is a high priority goal for autistic and developmentally delayed children. The LearningTree Games Education Grant will help spearhead the effort to make this playground an appropriate playspace for children with autism and special needs.

Meet the Moms. The founding moms of Manchester Project Play all have (or have had) children with special needs enrolled in SDELP. They dream of the day when their children can have access to play spaces that consider the unique needs of their special children - play spaces that become inviting, safe, developmentally appropriate and supportive, and allow children of differing abilities to play freely.

• Amy C., a former marketing exec in the music industry, is now a full-time mom caring for 6 year-old Tim and 4-year old Joe. Joe has been diagnosed on the spectrum of autism with PDD-NOS and is enrolled in one of 4 preschool classrooms dedicated to autism at Smyth Road. He has made dramatic progress since attending the school, but the biggest problems she sees with the playground are that there is no enclosure to keep kids safe (autistic kids tend to flee and do not respond when called) and the groundcover is primarily sand (which autistic kids occasionally try to eat).
  
  
  
  
• Amy R., a former marketing director, is a stay-at-home mom for 4-year-old Jordan and 1-year-old Rebecca. Jordan's speech delay prompted Amy to enroll him in SDELP. Amy sees a real need for providing a safe play area for kids with differing abilities, so that siblings and friends can play together.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Beth, a full-time college professor, enrolled 12-year-old Adrian (who has a rare congenital disorder called Cornelia de Lange syndrome) at SDELP as a preschooler. Beth has yet to find a playspace that her son can enjoy, and hopes that someday all preschoolers at SDELP will enjoy safe, fun and age-appropriate playspaces.
  
  

For more information about Manchester Project Play, or to donate funds to help make the autistic playground initiative a reality, please email Beth Fouts at efoutsra@anselm.edu. For more information about the Selma Deitch Early Learning Program, please email Pat Storm, Principal, at pstorm@mansd.org.