Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form<\/p>\n
Organization Name: City Care – Whiz Kids
\nLegal Name (if Different):
\nAlso Known As:
\nMailing Address: 6001 N Classen Blvd, Building 5
\nCity: Oklahoma City
\nState: Oklahoma
\nPostal Code: 73118
\nMain Phone: 4056521112
\nMain Fax:
\nOrganization Website: www.citycareokc.org
\nEmployer ID Number: 73-1497381
\nOrganization Tax Status: 501c3<\/p>\n
Proposal Information<\/p>\n
Today’s Date: 11\/6\/23
\nRequested Amount: 10,000<\/p>\n
Project Title: Whiz Kids 2024-2025 school year
\nProject Description:<\/p>\n
Third grade is a critical juncture for kids, where they must learn to read before they can read to learn. Research indicates that without the foundation of literacy, individuals are more likely to experience poorer employment opportunities, lower income, more adverse health outcomes, and face a greater chance of incarceration in the future. Whiz Kids is an after-school, 1:1 mentoring and tutoring program reaching first through fifth-grade students reading below grade level, navigating inequitable systems and circumstances, and needing a compassionate mentor. The primary goal of our Whiz Kids program is that the confidence built and literacy skills taught start to break the cycles of intergenerational poverty in Oklahoma City families. <\/p>\n
Whiz Kids is held after-school every week and runs concurrent with the public school system schedule, operating from August through May each year. We currently partner with 28 local Title 1 schools spanning nine districts in the OKC metro, serving children who would otherwise not have access to enrichment opportunities like extracurricular tutoring. Students are selected for the program by teacher nominations, and entry into Whiz Kids is based on volunteer availability since we are a 1:1 mentoring program. Once students are accepted into the program, they are paired with a volunteer mentor, and they remain together throughout the student’s time as a Whiz Kid. Our average volunteer tenure is four years due to their commitment to seeing students through the program.<\/p>\n
Churches within the neighborhood host the weekly meeting, with Site Coordinators handling
\nthe meeting logistics, snacks, and club time. Teacher Liaisons, educators from each local
\nschool who know our students personally, serve as literacy and curriculum coaches. The
\nTeacher Liaisons resource the mentors each week with activities, curriculum, and instruction
\non individualizing and reinforcing what the students are learning during the school day. This
\ninstruction is tailored specifically to each site\/school\/grade level. Our volunteer mentors
\nwork one-on-one with students and use targeted instruction to help increase critical reading
\nskills, such as comprehension, fluency, and phonemic awareness. <\/p>\n
Whiz Kids is a meaningful avenue for addressing the literacy gap that has only widened after the pandemic. In the 2022-2023 school year, our kids averaged a 39-point gain in reading scores, and more than 87% showed an increase in reading level. But beyond that, Whiz Kids is a place of refuge for our young learners. Each week, they walk through the doors, eyes searching the room for their beloved mentor. Students drop their backpacks and break out in a run toward their smiling faces and wide-stretched arms. In a world where value is often misplaced in material things or accomplishments, we strive to remind our students they have intrinsic value just for who they are. We encourage their dreams, challenge them to believe in themselves, and comfort them when the world feels unsafe. <\/p>\n
Over 10,500 OKCPS students are eligible for Whiz Kids but are not yet being served. Funds from DWDW will go toward our mission of reaching as many students in OKC as possible with literacy support and committed mentorship. We will expend funds on operating expenses that allow us to run our sites, including curriculum and book purchases, stipends for launching new sites, teacher liaison stipends, staffing, and more.\n<\/p>\n
Total Project Budget: 620,889<\/p>\n
Other Funding
\nSources For The Project (Committed & Potential): Committed: DHS OK, Lemon Family Foundation, Philip Boyle Foundation, Dollar General Foundation, Professional Athletes Foundation, Great Expectations Foundation, Kirkpatrick Family Fund. Pending: McCasland Foundation, Stone Family Foundation, Sparks Foundation, IECA, Telligen Community Initiative, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Howard Family Foundaiton, Dean Foundation, Doyle Foundation, JASCO<\/p>\n
Project Duration: Ongoing- one year
\nGeographical Area Served: Oklahoma City Metro
\nAge Group To Be Served: Elementary aged students <\/p>\n
Contact Information<\/p>\n
Contact Prefix (Mr,Mrs etc.): Mrs.
\nContact First Name: Leslie
\nContact Last Name: Word
\nContact Title: Grants Director
\nContact Phone: 405-652-1112
\nContact Email: leslie@citycareokc.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form Organization Name: City Care – Whiz Kids Legal Name (if Different): Also Known As: Mailing Address: 6001 N Classen Blvd, Building 5 City: Oklahoma City State: Oklahoma Postal Code: 73118 Main Phone: 4056521112 Main Fax: Organization Website: www.citycareokc.org Employer ID Number: 73-1497381 Organization Tax Status: 501c3 Proposal Information Today’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3301,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3300\/revisions\/3301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}