Disaster Recovery Grants Project
A Program of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy
Final Report, September 2009
Clear Creek Independent School District (ISD)
The objectives of this project, as written, were:
- to meet the needs of displaced and affected students by offering an additional class in Spring 2009 beyond those supported by the EL Civics grant. This class met the differing schedule and child care needs of students who currently couldn’t attend regularly, as well as those who wish to enroll but are not currently able.
- to propose to extend currently scheduled Spring classes into June 2009, allowing participants more time to make up hours and/or post-testing that they missed because of Hurricane Ike.
- to add marketing and retention efforts to improve attendance.
Clear Creek completed all the objectives of the award proposal. They state that the award “went a long way in terms of improving the contact hours generated by the program.” The director of grant programs for the district states that the Barbara Bush award allowed the district to “achieve unprecedented success in spite of having to recover from the impact of Hurricane Ike.” Given the economic situation and the impact of the storm, recruitment of students would not have been a priority otherwise. The school district engaged the community in the recovery process and obtained donated computers for their English Language and Civics program; the recruitment effort supported by the Barbara Bush Texas Fund helped reach out to students and the availability of computers made the program more attractive to new and returning students.
Narrative Project Success
In Clear Creek ISD, the Recovery Grant has impacted dozens of lives. Adults reported being very excited to attend classes and learn English and improve their citizenship skills. After Hurricane Ike, the program had a waiting list of 50 students, many of whom moved from Galveston to Clear Creek ISD. With this grant, the Clear Creek program was able to open a new class and serve these students who, otherwise, would have continued to wait and grown more frustrated.
One particular family of five brothers moved to Clear Creek from Galveston. They had lost their jobs due to Ike and were not able to attend school to learn English. Thanks to the funding available through this grant, they now attend class regularly and have been able to find jobs in the area. As they continue to improve their English skills, they look forward to a future of continued job advancement and being a positive force in their community.
The adult students are very grateful that they are able to attend school, no matter their age. It is gratifying to see them striving to succeed and wanting to improve their life situations. They have students that range in age from 18 to 70 and together they learn. Without this Recovery Grant, many of them would not have been fortunate enough to attend those classes.
The EL Civics staff at Clear Creek reported an increased pride in supporting the district’s pursuits and look forward to implementing a service learning program to further expand Clear Creek ISD’s family literacy goals.
With the contribution of funding under this grant, the program was able to show an increase in the five National Reporting System functioning levels that were served compared to the past year. There was also an increase in student enrollment of 55 additional students compared to the previous year.
The Clear Creek ISD EL Civics Program 2008-2009 was also recognized in the local newspaper. This recognition helps build students’ confidence.
