Sabatini Family Foundation commits gifts for learning center in Lawrence

LAWRENCE -- For some children, learning how to read comes almost naturally; for others, making the connection between letters and words is like deciphering hieroglyphics.

At the Strategic Learning Center in Lawrence, children and students of all ages can get the help they need to unlock the mysteries of reading and other basic skills. With a mission to teach students how to become confident and independent learners, the center offers class instruction and one-on-one tutoring for about 150 students throughout the year.

Thanks to a gift of cash and a pledge from the Sabatini Family Foundation to the Kansas University Endowment Association, the Strategic Learning Center will be able to reach even more students by helping defray program costs and services to individual students.

Lisa Walsh, program director, said the financial support from the Sabatini Family Foundation was crucial to the center's operations.

"First and foremost, the Sabatini Foundation's gifts have helped keep our doors open," Walsh said. "Their gifts support families who otherwise wouldn't be able to use our services."

The center is affiliated with the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning and is staffed largely by students from the KU School of Education. Its connection to KU education students was one of several reasons the foundation chose to support the organization, said Dan Sabatini, a foundation representative.

"Of course, one of the reasons we were drawn to this program is because it supports children as its main focus," Sabatini said. "But there are two other things that stand out. It connects the university with the community by using KU students as teachers, which makes it unique. Secondly, the people running it are very skilled and capable."

Tutors at the center are trained in instructional methods developed through more than 25 years of studies by the Center for Research on Learning, one of six designated research centers at KU. The strategies are designed to give students the study skills they need to plan and complete tasks, raise their test scores, and read and write at higher levels. In fact, Walsh said, if the center does its job correctly, students eventually reach the stage when they no longer need its services.

"In the old method, tutors just helped students do their homework, which made students even more dependent on tutors," Walsh said. "But here we teach skills that allow students to become self-sufficient, by teaching them specific steps so they can learn how to come up with their own strategies. That's why kids are sometimes here for such a short period of time. Maybe a child had trouble reading a textbook, we showed him how to do it, and suddenly it helped him in all his classes and now he's gone."

Besides assisting students in subjects such as math and reading through tutoring tailored to individual needs, the center also offers summer classes that jump-start students into their next school year. Sixth-grade graduates dreading junior high can practice typical school routines that will make the transition smoother. High school seniors facing college entrance exams can brush up on their math, and fourth- and fifth-graders can learn algebra through a visual, hands-on approach. There also is a time-management class that teaches students how to prioritize activities and become more organized.

The center is located in the basement of the education wing of Trinity Lutheran Church, 1245 New Hampshire St. There also is a Strategic Learning Center in Topeka, and Walsh said the organization soon will expand to the Kansas City area and eventually to other cities in the United States. The centers are a part of the Smarttogether Network of Strategic Learning Centers, which was created by the Center for Research on Learning to establish community-based learning centers and to encourage existing educational organizations to adopt research-based methods. The centers in the network collaborate with KU researchers to develop programs to ensure student success.

The total gifts from the Sabatini Family Foundation count toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.