Local Children Enjoy the Arts, Literacy, Food, and Fun

This summer, the Summer Enrichment Collaborative, facilitated by the Grinnell Education Partnership (GEP), significantly impacted our community by serving more than 2,000 children and their caregivers. Through the arts, literacy, learning, food, and fun, these programs helped students maintain grade-level reading norms and reduce summer learning loss.  

Fifteen full-time AmeriCorps members assisted the effort, which was a collaboration of five independent programs—LINK Grinnell, Summer Learning is Cool for Kids (SLICK), Grinnell Area Summer Camp (GASC) at Grinnell Community Early Learning Center, Grinnell College Museum of Art (GCMoA) and Drake Community Library’s Storytime Art in the Park and In Your Neighborhood programs. Together, they provided high-quality art, literacy, health and wellness, and other enrichment programming, along with increased access to food for participating children. 

AmeriCorps members played a crucial role in enhancing these programs. Grace Morrison, a former AmeriCorps member and now the Drake Community Library’s youth services coordinator praised their contributions. “AmeriCorps members greatly increased our capacity to deliver high-quality, accessible summer programs. Their hard work, along with the partnerships facilitated by GEP [Grinnell Education Partnership], made our summer program a success.” 

Thirteen of the 15 summer AmeriCorps members who served directly with kids were Grinnell College students. Audrey Deligan ’25, who worked with SLICK and LINK, shared her experience. “Service with AmeriCorps is such a fulfilling experience. I love building strong relationships with the children, as well as getting to see their literacy skills improve. I look forward to my work every day, and love knowing that I’m making an educational impact on Grinnell youth.” 

AmeriCorps Members 

• Drake Community Library: Evelyn Caperton ’25 
• GASC: Sara Booher ’25  
• GCMoA: Faye Henn ’25, Nora Kohnhorst ’25  
• LINK: Betel Aga ’27, Warren Bingcang ’27, Georgia Carbone ’24, Mary Higgins ’25, Kylie Klassen ’25 
• SLICK and LINK: Andy Chestovich ’25, Talia Harrison ’25, Ella Stephens, Audrey Deligan ‘25, Lauren Pease, Ella Labarre ’26 

Increasing Access to Food

Thanks to partnerships with Grinnell College, Bayer Crop Science, and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, the collaborative secured funding and food resources to offer nutritious snacks. Nicole Brua-Behrens, executive director of the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation and GEP co-backbone agency, emphasized the importance of nutrition. “Food plays a vital role in learning. Thanks to Bayer’s support, hundreds of young people attending Grinnell summer programs were fed and ready to learn.” 

A new partnership between Northeast Iowa Food Bank and LINK, initiated by Grinnell College’s SPARK Community-Based Social Innovation Challenge and GEP, provided 80 healthy snacks for children daily. LINK Executive Director Ashley Risting expressed gratitude for the collaboration, highlighting how it fostered excitement among children about trying new foods such as hummus, cheese sticks, and salsa. 

For the third year, GCMoA was part of a network of community organizations that helped ensure kids and caregivers had access to nutrition during the summer providing meals, free produce, plant starts and baked goods as part of Storytime Art in the Park and In Your Neighborhood programs. This effort was funded by a grant from the Poweshiek County Alliance and partnerships with The Iowa Kitchen, Middleway Farm, Grinnell Farm to Table, Grinnell Food Coalition, and MICA, as well as the Bayer grant. 

Hansen Set to Retire from Grinnell College 

A note of thanks to Hansen for her seven years of service to GEP and Grinnell College. Her outstanding contributions have positively impacted GEP, resulting in local, state, and national recognition. During her tenure at Grinnell College, Hansen coordinated and deployed 200+ AmeriCorps members to support early education efforts throughout the community. Hansen, who is retiring in early September, expressed her appreciation, 

"I'm incredibly grateful to serve on a team that is so dedicated to what’s best for our kids. Our GEP team, along with our amazing summer partners and AmeriCorps members, truly embody the spirit of collaboration and commitment to making a lasting impact." 

About GEP

The Grinnell Education Partnership (GEP) supports youth and families in Grinnell, Iowa, by aligning community organizations toward shared educational goals. Formed in 2015 as part of the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading, GEP is a network of over 20 organizations creating opportunities for children and families through transformative education partnerships.  Local expertise comes from community organizations, and funding is managed by the Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation (GPCF). Grinnell College provides the network’s collaborative infrastructure.