Making an Impact

Grandma Connie is one of 192 Foster Grandparents that served during the 2016-17 school year with Catholic Charities Central MN. The group served 134,360 hours, working with 8778 children. Upon completing the school year, teachers and staff reported that 88% of the students served demonstrated improved math and/or literacy skills. Mrs. Jones, a first grade teacher at Verndale Elementary, wrote, "I just wanted to tell you how wonderful it has been to be able to work with Grandma Connie. She has made such a positive impact with the kids in my classroom. Whether it is working individually on sight words with kids that are struggling or helping in the classroom setting, she has been such a help. I have two boys who really struggle academically in their reading. One of the boys only knew 6 sight words at the beginning of the year and now knows 75. The other boy only knew 8 sight words and now knows 78. This was amazing progress! I hope that this program will always be in our district and that Grandma Connie will be able to work in my room again."

-Stacy Lund