Junior League Of Spartanburg Inc

Programs: Read and dine literacy training the purpose of this program is to provide after school training for parents and children to help promote our initiative of literacy. In 2016-2017, the junior league hosted 8 literacy training sessions in two different spartanburg elementary schools (chesnee elementary and chapman elementary). At these training sessions, parents were trained on the different components of literacy including decoding and comprehension. The parents were then able to try out their new skills on their children with the provided junior league trained volunteers. Dinner was then provided and time for reflection and answering of questions. Approximately 20 children per session with 2 accompanying parents were served at each of the 8 sessions.

mini-grants for teachers since 1986, the junior league of spartanburg has offered financial support to teachers through the mini-grants for teachers program, providing them with needed funding for projects. The program is dedicated to supporting projects developed by teachers from all schools in spartanburg county. Teachers write grant proposals to enhance their classroom instruction that are based on creativity, benefit to students, efficiency and adaptability of the project. Teachers may apply for individual grants up to 600, or team grants up to 1,000. Grants are awarded annually. Approximately, 23 grants were awarded. With a national average of 25 children per classroom, a minimum of 575 children were served. This is a very conservative number since many grants are for purchasing reusable equipment or technologies that can be used for many years.

the hub city farmer's market is a market held every saturday from the spring through november/december at the northside harvest park in spartanburg. The market provides fresh, local, seasonal goods. The market is "producer only" meaning that everything is grown or produced by the vendor selling it. In 2016-2017, the junior league of spartanburg partnered with the hub city farmers' market to establish a bi-monthly tent at which kid-friendly recipes and snacks were available. This coincides with jls's kids in the kitchen initiative. Jls provides a healthy snack and explains the nutrition behind it and that it is important to practice healthy eating habits at home. In addition to providing a healthy treat, a recipe card is provided so the snack can be replicated at home. The jls tent at the market served approximately 30 children at 6 of the markets. These numbers do not reflect the impact the tent may have had on adults/parents who were present with the children (our target audience) but estimating on the low end with each child having just one parent present doubles the number of people benefitted by the league's presence to approximately 300.

other miscellaneous