Research has shown that 75% of students who struggle with reading in the third grade never catch up and are 4x more likely to drop out of high school. The United Way believes every young person should have access to the tools and resources they require in order to embark on their journey of school success, regardless of financial barriers.
While it may be tempting to believe that such challenges aren’t prevalent in Regina, the reality is that among the city’s 33,000 students, 45% enter Kindergarten without knowledge of letters or numbers, 26% struggle to read proficiently by grade 3, and 20% do not graduate high school on time.
The United Way envisions a city where every child experiences a strong foundation. Their Summer Success Program is a pivitol initiative towards this goal, offering a 30-hour summer camp aimed at cultivating foundational literacy skills in early readers facing challenges. Since 2014, the United Way has collaborated with Regina Catholic and Regina Public School Divisions to provide a meaningful solution, supporting children in Regina through summer literacy programming to enhance school readiness and enrich early literacy skills.
Virtus Group had a great time volunteering and packing summer success backpacks for the Regina Catholic School summer reading program! Loaded with essential school supplies, these backpacks play a vital role in supporting students during their camp activities and as they return to school in the fall!
