This is a charitable donation worth noting: Beloit Sky Carp (High-A; Midwest League) owners Quint and Rishy Studer have donated $500,000 to a Rock County literacy program to promote early childhood brain development.
The Stateline Community Foundation’s Literacy for Life Initiative is the recipient of the gift. It’s billed as a boost in the charity’s goal of promoting early childhood brain development and literacy for newborn babies born in Rock County.
“Research shows us that 85 percent of the child’s brain is developed in a baby’s first three years of life,” the Studers shared via press statement. “It is vital that we encourage and educate parents on how to develop their baby’s brain from day one.” Part of the grant will go toward hiring a Director of Early Brain Development; another part of the grant will register families for The Basics Program, developed and designed at Harvard University by Dr. Ron Ferguson. This program has been designed to implement Ferguson’s extensive research through five tenets shown to be extremely effective in early childhood brain development.
Another big part of the gift: development of a united Rock County effort that ensures all children born in Rock County will be ready for kindergarten by age 5. In case you didn’t see this, we’re in the midst of a literacy crisis when it comes to elementary school students, with only 32 percent of fourth graders reading at an acceptable level. Children who are ready for kindergarten have a significantly better chance of achieving their educational, personal and career goals, which also translates into a better quality of life for them, their family and community.