Partnering With Bring Up Grades Program, And How You Can Too

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Shelli Ensminger talks with Sharon Barhorst from the Bradenton Kiwanis Club about their Bring Up Grades program in South Florida.

Shelli: Hi. I’m Shelli from Anderson and Associates and I’ve got my good friend Sharon Barhorst who’s here with me today from the Bradenton Kiwanis Club and she’s going to tell us a little bit about a new program that they’re doing called BUG.

Sharon: Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here today with you. What is BUG? BUG means Bringing Up Grades. It’s a Kiwanis International Program that’s designed to help children literally bring their grade up from either an F to a D, D to a C, et cetera. The teachers actually define the goals and objectives for the students. It’s very simple and it makes that child feel special.

Shelli: And we are – you and I are kind of partnering a little bit with – here at Palmetto Elementary.

Sharon: Right, right. The program here at Palmetto Elementary, there are 11 classrooms that we’re going to be supporting, around 200 and some children. At the end of the year, we’re going to have a special promotional party. In this case a picnic that Anderson and Associates are kind enough to help support and make those children at Palmetto Elementary feel very, very special.

Shelli: Are there any other programs that you would like to talk about, Sharon?

Sharon: We have the BUG Program at two other title one schools. Manatee Elementary is what we call a community partnership school. At that particular school, we’re teamed with Manatee Health Department, other local volunteers. But we’re doing the BUG Program there because they have just as much need as Palmetto Elementary does.

Then we have Roger’s Garden which is our third location. It’s one classroom. It’s a kindergarten classroom that there are over 40 children in that particular classroom and all of them need to bring their grades up.

Shelli: What would an average person in our community do to help with this program?

Sharon: It’s very, very easy to be part of the BUG Program. I’m a volunteer. So I’ve gone through what you need to go through. We’re teaming with the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County, which they make it very easy for you. You go out to their Boys and Girls Club Manatee County volunteer web portal.

You put in your information. You get a process where they background check you. They do drug test you and help you a little bit with mentoring so you know like certain signs of child abuse. So they’re there to support you. But overall, the whole process just takes you a few hours to put together the volunteer application and then on top of that, you get the opportunity to make a huge difference in a child’s life which is really what it’s all about.

Then once you’re background checked, then you go through and meet with the school district and you’re assigned a classroom and you will have a teacher. In my case, I’m assigned to a kindergarten teacher. I’ve had the opportunity to meet with her and then you just talk to her and say, “What do you really need to help these children?”

So she needed some books. So Bradenton Kiwanis was able to find another local Palmetto business owner that donated books. It’s ELC down the road here and they received books for those children to read.

So it’s very, very simple. Time, overall time, it starts March 22nd when we launch the BUG Program. You will have a little video that you can play in the classroom that explains how the program works.

The teachers will set the goals and objectives and then you really just support the teacher and if the teacher doesn’t need that much requirements, no problem.

The teacher that I needed really wanted somebody to read virtually. So you can go online using their proper protocol to read to the children. The teacher and the student will have the same book that you have and you just read to them.

Again not everyone needs those kinds of requirements. It could be just as simple as doing the video, making sure that the teacher has the proper promotional products that are going to be paid for by Bradenton Kiwanis and that are local business owners and then the fun part which is what Shelli is helping me with is that the end of the year, you get a bash right before the end of the school and those kids feel special that they had the opportunity to bring up their grades just one level.

Anderson & Associates has been serving Manatee County residents with property insurance coverage since 1985. We offer homeowners (including mobile homes), car insurance, life, health, umbrella insurance policies. We’re a family-owned and operated insurance agency, and we treat you like family.

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Anderson & Associates Insurance Agency
810 8th Avenue West
Palmetto, Florida 34221
Phone: (941) 729-7355