Success By 6 Welcomes Maggie Abbate

Submitted Article

FULTON, NY – Bonnie Holmes, director of the Success By 6 program has announced that Maggie Abbate has joined the staff and will assist with a number of the program’s initiatives.

“Thanks to the AmeriCorps program, Maggie will be working with me and other staff members on a variety of projects throughout the summer months,” said Holmes.

Abbate, who just completed her first year of study at Boston University, is excited about the prospect of working with children and assisting with the many programs that Success By 6 will be doing this summer.

“Success By 6 is a great program.  It exposes children to a good environment that welcomes them into education and embraces learning in all aspects of life. I really like the fact that it reaches so many children in Oswego County. It does an excellent job in preparing children for kindergarten. Having worked with kindergarten students in Boston, I know that proper preparation makes a big difference in the their school experience,” said Abbate.

A native of Fulton, Abbate brings considerable experience with her. She taught Sunday school for four years, coached Pop Warner Football for two years, and while at college works in the Boston Public School System as a literacy tutor.

Abbate’s primary focus at Success By 6 will be on developing and distributing an informational packet that will assist parents raising young children.

Based on the United Way’s Born Learning initiative the packets will contain valuable information that will help parents and caregivers successfully begin their child’s learning experience as early as possible.

Based on the premise that children begin learning at birth, Abbate is researching and compiling information and resources that will help parents and caregivers give their children high-quality learning experiences.

By providing children with a nurturing, responsive and individualized interactions at an early age the groundwork is being established for later learning.

“The packets will be filled with valuable advice that parents and caregivers can draw from.  It’s nice that they receive information from a multitude of sources in a non-intrusive manner,” added Abbate.

Once completed the packets will be made available through area healthcare providers.

Holmes said that Abbate will be involved with other projects at Success By 6 as well, including the annual Stuff-A-Bus campaign and the Pre-K Summer Program.

“Maggie is a take charge person who has demonstrated noticeable leadership skills.  Her experience as a substitute teacher and her experience working with young children will prove to be a valuable asset to our program,” she said. “We are happy to have Maggie and we are fortunate that we are able to tap into the resources of AmeriCorps.”

AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engages more than 500,000 Americans committed to serving their communities.

The main goals of AmeriCorps are:

Getting things done and solving local issues

Strengthening society and uniting individuals

Encouraging responsibility

Expanding opportunities by gaining valuable experiences, specialized training, and other important life skills.

As a part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, AmeriCorps, together with the USA Freedom Corps is working together to build a culture of citizenship, service and responsibility in America.

A speech pathology major, Abbate said her experience with the Success By 6 program will serve her well in the future.

“As a speech pathology major my goal is to focus on early childhood and help young children succeed in school. Working with Success By 6 will allow me to gain valuable experience in that area and give me the opportunity to help the community as whole. I love working with children and am looking forward to being part of the Success By 6 team,” said Abbate.

Success By 6 is an initiative of the United Way of Greater Oswego County.

It strives to increase the effectiveness of the community to meet the needs of children up to age six and their families.

By sharing information and exploring new collaborations for service delivery, Success By 6 seeks to mobilize resources to ensure all children are physically, socially, emotionally and behaviorally able to learn when entering school.

Anyone interested in volunteering or interning at Success By 6 may contact Holmes at 593-1900 for more information. missing or outdated ad config

Print this entry