When a family needs help and cannot find their way back to stability easily, the Readiness to Learn program is there to assist. Recently, a single parent needed to make a fresh start on Orcas. The Readiness to Learn program (RTL) was able to provide support by referring the parent to consumer credit counseling in order to manage debt and for help with rental assistance for housing. The parent also received help with an unpaid childcare bill and received gas vouchers through the RTL Family Fund so that her children could receive childcare and the parent could continue to work. The family was referred to counseling, and the parent found the parental coaching very helpful. In this way, RTL was able to greatly reduce the family’s stress levels which, in turn, allowed the parent’s children to attend school with a hopeful rather than an anxious mindset. The parent was encouraged with the progress she has seen for her children and herself, and recently expressed her gratitude for RTL’s concern for the success of her family.

“It’s these kinds of stories,” said Moriah Armstrong, “that are why the RTL program exists.”

This was taken from the Readiness to Learn website: “The Readiness to Learn (RTL) program, administered by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, is part of the Education Reform Act enacted by the 1993 Legislature. Its primary purpose is to reduce barriers to learning and link education with human service providers in an effort to assist in the removal of non academic barriers and ensure that all children are able to attend school prepared to learn.” URL – http://www.k12.wa.us/ReadinesstoLearn/default.aspx

Moriah Armstrong has been the Program Coordinator for the Orcas RTL program for five years; now she is working as the elementary family support specialist and elementary school counselor.

“On a local level,” Ms. Armstrong explained, “the RTL goals are to help children come to school ready to learn and to be successful in school. But what we know is that there are barriers to learning for children; if not enough food is on the table or there are family stressors, then a child will have a hard time learning. There may also be relationship stress such as a family undergoing a transition from a divorce, or a move which causes confusion and anxiety. This program provides support to help bolster emotional and physical needs. We help families problem solve by meeting the family’s goals as well as the children’s goals. For example, if a teenager is having a hard time staying organized, the RTL program hooks the family up with the mentor program. Essentially, RTL acts as a point of contact between a family and a set of resources that might help them in their time of need, but of which the family may not be aware.”

Readiness to Learn has a family emergency fund which is funded solely through individual and community donations. It allows the RTL program to purchase gift certificates from island grocers as well procure gas vouchers. This year, RTL supported 25-30 families with these funds.

Because of the economic downturn and the cyclical nature of tourism on the island, donations are now more necessary and vital than ever before. Please, in this time of thinking of giving to others and extending compassion, send a donation to:

Orcas Island Readiness to Learn

c/o Orcas Elementary School

611 School Road

Eastsound, WA 98245

Please call 376-1500 to contact Moriah Anderson for more information on the program.