MBN, Monte Bubbles Network

 Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation is putting into action a simple and inexpensive tool that addresses head on the specific challenges that face middle school students. Middle school (grades 6-8) represent a "make or break" time for our nation's schoolchildren. Most educators agree that high school outcomes are determined in middle school, where students either learn or fail to learn the skills which are necessary for high school completion.

 Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation is putting into action a simple and inexpensive tool that addresses head on the specific challenges that face middle school students. Middle school (grades 6-8) represent a "make or break" time for our nation's schoolchildren. Most educators agree that high school outcomes are determined in middle school, where students either learn or fail to learn the skills which are necessary for high school completion.

The Foundation's education director, Carolyn Olivier, developed and wrote Hello Friend/What's Up?, an innovative daily student planner that helps students stay on top of their work, complete assignments, manage their projects and apply essential learning skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Ms. Olivier, the Harvard-educated co-author of a highly regarded parental guidebook to education called Learning to Learn (Simon & Schuster, 1996) designed this resource to help schools and families work together more efficiently to support each child's learning.

Hello Friend/What's Up? was put into practice in nearly 200 middle schools earlier this spring. Teachers using the planners commented that they experienced dramatic increases in both homework completion and direct parental involvement. One teacher in the New York City Schools wrote, "Formerly less than half the assignments would come in every day. Now, over 80% of them are handed in." A teacher in Oklahoma shared, "Parents loved having this planner for their children. This helped tremendously with parent/teacher communication. It can make a difference."

The results were so positive that the Foundation is making Hello Friend/What's Up? available this autumn to a wider distribution. "Hello Friend/What's Up demonstrates that solutions do not have to be complicated, expensive and overwhelming," stated Joel Brokaw, executive director of the Foundation. "Our mandate is to put proven techniques into the hands of teachers and parents so that each child has the resources and support to reach their learning potential."

The launch of the planner last January was made possible thanks to the support of Scholastic Book Clubs and a gift from the Waghorne family. The Foundation hopes to continue free distribution of the books this fall to underserved schools through individual and corporate funding of "school adoptions" and through profits from the sales. "For as little as $6 per child, a donor will have a daily impact the entire school year and reinforce learning skills that have benefit for a lifetime," added Brokaw.

In another high impact program, Hello Friend has distributed more than three quarters of a million books, collated into "classroom libraries" to nearly eight thousand K-2 teachers in 533 cities and towns in 48 states over the last five years. Partners and sponsors for the project include Scholastic Book Clubs, Chase, Verizon, regional and local foundations, and a small army of volunteers from southeastern Vermont. "Many of our nation's children attend classrooms where there are few books to read, where the books are out of date or damaged, or where budget cuts have closed the school library," Ms. Olivier explained. "Many of these same children have few books at home. This project addresses the gap that exists in the opportunity to learn to read, and to learn to love reading." The Hello Friend Classroom Libraries, which consist of 75-95 brand new hard and softcover books, organized by grade level, arrive at no cost to teachers or schools.

The Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling the goals and dreams of Ennis Cosby, the son of Bill and Camille Cosby. The Foundation equips teachers, parents and students with the practical information and educational tools needed to understand and address the needs of all learners before they experience the corrosive effects of frustration and failure. Learn more about these projects and on ways to support Hello Friend's work by visiting www.hellofriend.org

Source: Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation

Web site: http://www.hellofriend.org/