North Central State College Crawford Success Center’s Nate Harvey taught Galion Middle School students about their personal brand as part of Galion City School’s ROAR program.
Courtesy | Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center
At its regular meeting on Aug. 21, the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center (Mid-Ohio ESC) Board of Governors accepted the continuation of the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center grants that fund Galion City School’s ROAR before and after-school programs at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, totaling $400,000.
Galion Elementary Schools — the primary and intermediate buildings, collectively — and Galion Middle School, which are in their fifth year of the grant out of a possible five years, have received $100,000 each for the 2024-25 school year. Galion High School also received $200,000 for its grant, which is in its third year.
The grants will continue the ROAR before and after-school programs for Galion City School students in kindergarten through 12th grade and will focus on improving reading and math, increasing student social-emotional health, providing positive youth development activities, and offering family engagement opportunities. Middle and high school programs will also focus on career readiness activities. The district is looking forward to continuing collaboration with previous community partners like Marion-Crawford Prevention and Family Life Counseling while also expanding their partnership to include the Columbus Zoo and Ohio Bird Sanctuary.
The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant program provides opportunities for children who come from economically disadvantaged families to receive academic and positive youth development support. Galion City Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hartmann said, “This grant provides our students with high-leverage experiences that greatly impact the quality of their learning environment.”
These programs focus on helping students meet state and local student standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math, and offer students a broad array of enrichment activities that complement their regular educational programs.
Mid-Ohio ESC will oversee the grants by serving as the fiscal agent and helping facilitate the grant activities to ensure compliance. Kalin Wilburn will be the program manager and will work closely with Galion City Schools to oversee these programs.
Submitted by the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.
