Temperatures are up, and school’s out – summer is in full swing! Summer is the perfect time for a refreshing vacation, and CIS Site Coordinators at Central Elementary, Mill Street Elementary, and DeLay Middle School partnered with Christ Child Society of Dallas-Fort Worth to send their students and families on “vacations” around the world with fun, take-home baskets filled with activities and treats related to specific countries!
The summer program offered engaging family activities and meals for CISNT students and families. The take-home baskets were themed to various countries, including Germany, Italy, China, and France. Nellie Apodaca, CIS Site Coordinator at Central Elementary, created baskets about Italy for the second week of the program, and included ingredients for a traditional Italian plate in her basket.
“Each family received a meal to prepare together as a family that related to the specific country they were learning about each week to straighten the family unity,” says Mrs. Apodaca. “We hope our students and families had fun creating and learning about other countries through this summer program.”
Shonarie Sholin, CIS Site Coordinator at Mill Street Elementary, included ingredients for orange chicken in her basked focused on China, and Tracey Quezada, CIS Site Coordinator at DeLay Middle School, assembled baskets focused on France. For Ms. Quezada, having the opportunity to deliver baskets to students and their families was the best part.
“It was so fun driving around visiting them and getting to see their faces, especially for my 8th graders that I will not get to see next school year,” says Ms. Quezada. “Some of my students were looking forward to the week’s basket. They looked forward to the food items and activities, which was really satisfying to know that they were enjoying the baskets.”
During her visits, Ms. Quezada was even able to extend assistance to parents where needed.
“The other benefit of doing home visits was having the opportunity to engage and talk to parents, and simply just checking in on them and seeing if they needed anything,” says Ms. Quezada. “I was able to help a parent out with some questions she had about applying for free and reduced lunch for the upcoming school year.”
This year’s summer program provided an excellent learning opportunity for students and their families, and gave Site Coordinators a chance to connect with their students and check-in to address any needs or questions that arise over summer break. We are so proud of these CISNT Site Coordinators for going above and beyond to make take-home baskets fun and engaging for their students and families, and we thank Christ Child Society of DFW for partnering with CISNT to put together this unique activity!
CISNT is #AllInForKids all year long! Be sure to check out our blog for highlights from this past school year, and stay tuned for more news about our summer services!
