WUCF TV, Central Florida’s PBS station, announced today it received a $50,000 grant from the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation (OMYF) to continue its work in preparing Central Florida’s children for kindergarten.
In 2018, WUCF launched its kindergarten readiness guide for caregivers called On My Way to K: A Kindergarten Readiness Toolkit for Caregivers. The toolkit provides caregivers with strategies that take a whole-child approach to preparing their children for kindergarten. Using beloved characters and trusted resources from PBS KIDS, the On My Way to K Toolkit is free resource from WUCF that caregivers and children can use together. To date, more than 10,000 printed toolkits have been distributed to families in Central Florida, plus thousands more have accessed the digital version online. In 2021, WUCF built upon the success of the toolkit with a pilot workshop series focused on assisting caregivers on their journey to preparing their child for kindergarten.
With this investment from the OMYF, WUCF will expand On My Way to K by providing new ways to support the needs of early learners and their caregivers. WUCF will increase kindergarten readiness services by providing additional accessibility for families expanded outreach and through the creation of a Spanish-language resources.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation for seeing the value of WUCF’s On My Way to K program,” said Jennifer Cook, WUCF Executive Director. “This project leverages WUCF’s ability to scale educational programs, along with our education staff providing intensive, individualized trainings, while we use our airwaves and digital platforms to reach the children that need this the most across Central Florida.”
WUCF's On My Way to K with PBS KIDS Guidebook prepares children for kindergarten through resources that support the key developmental areas - physical, social, emotional, and cognitive - a child needs to be successful and become life-long learners.
During the presentation, OMYF distributed more than $1 million to a combined 17 nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping at-risk children accomplish their goals.
Learn more about WUCF’s On My Way to K initiative at wucf.org/kready.
