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Success by Six celebrates 10 years of preparing students for school
19 regional school districts now use program
CAMPBELL
A flock of Campbell Elementary students followed Katina Valerio, the head cook at Campbell Elementary and Middle schools, like ducklings through the building’s cafeteria as she described the purpose of each of the pieces of culinary equipment.
The group of tiny learners, adorned in hairnets and disposable gloves, were part of the Success By 6 program, a United Way initiative meant to prepare young students for their first weeks of school by easing them into their new surroundings.
Though Valerio had given the cafeteria tour many times before, Tuesday’s presentation was special; it was the 10-year anniversary of the Success By 6 program.
The four-week program provides students with an opportunity to meet teachers and school staff in the summer prior to their first year of school.
During their time in the program, soon-to-be classmates attend tours of the school and other facilities such as the cafeteria, nurse’s office and the bus yard.
“Even with just the small group of students I bring on the tour, I see them being helpers when they start their first week,” Valerio said.
“They’ll show the other students how things work. They’ll show them where to get their milk and how to hold their trays because they’ve already learned it. It’s pretty amazing.”
Jen Gonzalez, a kindergarten teacher at Campbell Elementary who gives up four weeks of her summer to work with the students during the program, said the school was a pilot participant in Success By 6 and that it has continued to participate because teachers have seen the benefits.
“It gets students acclimated to school, so when they start they see some familiar faces and it gets some of those first day jitters out early,” she said.
Success By 6 started in two school districts, Campbell City Schools and South Range, and has since grown to be used by 19 regional school districts.
Ted Schmidt, regional president of PNC Bank, said the company has been sponsoring the program for the last nine years.
“We saw the progress in that first year and we knew we wanted to support the program,” Schmidt said.
“For the last 15 years, PNC has had a similar program, Grow Up Great, for children from birth to age 5. It prepares children not only for school but really for the rest of their lives, so bridging the programs just made sense.”