Think Together Honors Colton Joint Unified School District as One of Its 2024 Champion of Change Award Recipient
Think Together and Colton Joint Unified School District have partnered since 2010, serving 22 schools in the district.
Santa Ana, Calif. (May 2, 2024)– Think Together, California’s leading nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning and school improvement programs, is proud to announce it has recognized Colton Joint Unified School District with its Champion of Change Award at a reception held at the district’s board meeting on May 2.
Over its 14-year partnership with Think Together, Colton Joint Unified has integrated various community partners into Think Together’s expanded learning programs. The programs introduce students to music through Drums Speaks©️ and Dhasa Care Foundation, theater through L.A. Arts Group, as well as competitive sports through organizations like the LA84 Foundation.
“This year’s Champion of Change Award we are very proud to present to Colton Joint Unified School District. Colton Joint Unified has been innovative in all the things they offer students,” said Randy Barth, Founder and CEO of Think Together. “They have expanded access to ASES programs, made 39 non-instructional days possible, and done all kinds of different enrichment. From theater to STEM to sports, and they have even embraced high dosage tutoring to help address the learning loss from the pandemic.”
Colton Joint Unified offers expanded learning programs to each of its 3,766 students free of charge by tapping into a range of funding streams including, but not limited to, Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) grants and After School Education and Safety (ASES) funding. Think Together partners with districts like Colton Joint Unified to offer families a variety of programs that fit their unique needs.
“Colton has the unique ability to see a challenge and face it. They come in and make sure that not just every student has what they need, but every staff member as well. With the expanded learning opportunity, Think Together has been able to expand our out -of -school time to nine hours and offer more seats to students,” said Rhonda Scott, Think Together’s General Manager for the San Bernardino Northeast region.
Think Together’s Champion of Change Award celebration was a reception held as one of several events this spring to support Think Together expanded learning programs across the state.
“It just brings so much joy to my heart to see what Think Together does for our community by providing opportunities where students can be happy and learn,” said Colton Joint Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Frank Miranda. “I’m very happy with Think Together, and as long as I am superintendent, we are going to continue to offer these programs to our community.”
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About Think Together
For over 25 years, Think Together has partnered with schools to change the odds for kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements and scales academic solutions to take today’s education leaders to the next level and contribute to a future where every student graduates with all life options available to them. What started as a single neighborhood afterschool site, now serves more than 200,000 students in over 675 schools, from San Jose to Palm Springs. Through multi-pronged approach, Think Together’s program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org.
