The Foster Grandparents program has provided 40 years and over 940,000 hours of service to the youth at Copper Lake & Lincoln Hills Schools. The Foster Grandparent Program is a volunteer program sponsored by Copper lake & Lincoln Hills Schools Department of Corrections and federally funded by the Corporation for National Service.
At Copper Lake & Lincoln Hills Schools, the Foster Grandparent Program places older adults where their support and lifetime of experience will make a difference. Currently, 22 volunteers from three surrounding communities (Irma, Merrill, and Tomahawk) within Lincoln County are actively busy making a difference in the life of a young student at Copper Lake & Lincoln Hills Correctional Facility in Irma. Our Foster Grandparents range in age from 63 through 94, with their main focus on mentoring and tutoring the students at CLS/LHS. There are presently three shifts of Foster Grandparents interacting with the students from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., five days a week. Foster Grandparents are placed in all the regular living units at CLS/LHS as well as in many of the classrooms. The Foster Grandparent Program has been an active part of Lincoln Hills for 40 years touching the lives of hundreds of youth. The youth experience firsthand the vitality of older adults and learn how to interact with them and treat them with respect. Some of the activities are: talking and listening, playing cards, baking treats together to share, planting flowers outside living units, crafts, assisting students in the classroom who have trouble keeping up, or staying on task as well as tutoring in reading. Many Foster Grandparents say they get as much or more than they give.
The Grandparents also spend one hour with the same student each day assisting him with reading skills. This is the Title One Reading Program. Students and their Reading Grandparent develop a bond with each other and progress is made both academically and socially. Many students with the help of a grandparent have been able to improve in these areas dramatically in a few short months; at times it’s truly amazing. This assists in breaking the cycle of failure these youth so often experience and become comfortable with. The youth become so proud of themselves when they progress (not a feeling they are use to). The Foster Grandparents enjoy watching the students develop better reading skills, experiencing their progress firsthand and knowing that reading is a basic tool they will all need to become a productive part of our community. It is rewarding to the Foster Grandparents to know that they have made a difference. With the special skills these Foster Grandparents have acquired though their own life experiences, they are able to motivate the students in very unique ways. Many students graduate from the reading program and go on to earn diplomas and technical college credits.
The Foster Grandparents at Copper Lake & Lincoln Hills Schools are a very dedicated, caring group who see past what may have brought our students to Copper Lake & Lincoln Hills Schools and see the potential in all our students and help them to see a future for themselves. They work towards teaching them to be self correcting and independent in their learning tasks even with the challenges so many of our youth have to overcome.
Foster grandparents continue whether in the living units or in the classrooms to work with our students to help close the gap between their potential and their performance.
Their community dedication and civic engagement does not stop with their service at CLS/LHS there are many Foster Grandparents who volunteer and participate in other areas of the community as well. Some examples are Merrill Hospital, Merrill flower project, Merrill Area Community Enrichment center, local churches, 4-H clubs, church mission trips, local boards, food pantry, assisting elderly, and keeping in touch with alumni FG to name a few.