The Fort Dodge Community School District has announced that Dodger Academy, the District’s after school program for TK-5th grade students, has been awarded grants for the 2022-2023 school year.

Dodger Academy was awarded the 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant. This is a competitive grant that helps provide academic enhancement opportunities during non-school hours and helps students meet state and local standards in areas such as reading and math. In addition, it offers students various enrichment activities that complement their regular academic programs.

“Being a recipient of the 21st Century grant will help ensure that Dodger Academy can continue to help our Dodger students grow in their learning outside the classroom,” said Erin Brookshire, Director of Dodger Academy. “We will be able to provide additional curriculum resources, games and activities that are not only fun, but also reinforce the students’ classroom learning. We will also be looking to expand our programming to benefit our Dodger Academy families and community.”

Dodger Academy is also the recipient of two awards from the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. Daily Math Fluency will help students with math fluency and aligns with the Iowa Core Standards. Storytime STEM Packs will help students with skills like counting, spatial relationships, engineering, forces and weather and computer science. The STEM packs include programmable BeeBots (small robots), a storybook and materials to students to use while they problem solve.

“Our students love the STEM activities we offer and these awards will help us provide more STEM opportunities for our kids,” Brookshire said. “The benefits of STEM education are many, including fostering creativity, building resilience, encouraging teamwork, and teaching problem solving.”

For information about Dodger Academy visit fdschools.org/district/dodger-academy. Dodger Academy registration for the 22-23 school year will take place online during the school registration process in July.