Grant of $565,000 to Great Bend schools announced

Left to right: Trish Bailey, KRR Program Coordinator, John Popp, USD 428 Assistant Superintendent, Khris Thexton, USD 428 Superintendent, Lincoln Elementary students Brody and Bentley Corbett, Kara Turner, Human Service Consultant for DCF, Steve Thorpe, KRR Director of Family Engagement

The Great Bend school district and the Kansas Reading Roadmap (KRR) visited the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ (DCF) Great Bend Service Center to thank DCF for investing over $500,000 into the Great Bend elementary schools through the Kansas Reading Roadmap Program. Officials from the Great Bend district and the KRR expressed their appreciation for DCF’s efforts to reduce poverty and support innovation in the state.

USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton and Asst. Superintendent John Popp, met with Economic and Employment Services staff from the Great Bend DCF office to thank them for the various programs DCF operates to serve needy local residents. KRR, an early-literacy partnership at five Great Bend schools, is funded by the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, administered by DCF.

“We are so appreciative for all the poverty-alleviating programs in the Great Bend area, and are thankful for their provision of the KRR in our schools,” said Thexton. “The KRR has been a really successful program in Great Bend at helping our students develop the skills they need to succeed.”

Through a multi-year partnership with KRR, Great Bend USD 428 has dramatically increased reading proficiency among third graders. Children that are early proficient readers are four times more likely to graduate high school on time. High school graduates have a better economic future meaning early literacy interventions helps break the cycle of poverty.

Lincoln Elementary students Brody and Bentley Corbett attended the celebration and presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Great Bend DCF staff for their support of local poverty prevention and supporting efficient, effective strategies like KRR.

Thorpe joined the school staff to express appreciation to DCF. He said that through KRR and other Economic and Employment Services programs, DCF is helping children and their families break the cycle of poverty.

Thorpe announced that the grant which funds the Kansas Reading Roadmap was renewed for another year. He credited Gov. Jeff Colyer and DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel for this investment in Great Bend schools.

“Through its support of KRR, DCF has launched a new approach that aligns social service funding with early education investments to get better results for children” said Thorpe. “This kind of cross-agency collaboration is an example of making government work better for Kansans.”

KRR is a partnership between local schools, the Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN), and DCF. KRR works with more than 60 schools across the state aligning afterschool, summer and family engagement programs with school data and practice.