About — Kids STEP UP

About Us

Kids STEP UP aims to improve access to quality education with peer tutors, helping elementary school age underserved children catch up and sustain learning, promoting a healthy future together.

What We Do

Our program consists of a summer launch in 2021 and sustained learning through the year. Each student is assessed for math and reading levels, based on California standards, with a goal to improve by at least 50% in each subject area per year. An academic plan is personalized for each student, with goals in math, reading, and writing. A peer tutor is carefully matched with each student. The student-peer pair work together during the school year to sustain learning.

Our Start

The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating to the health and education of our children. Children are suffering, physically and mentally, unable to learn and thrive particularly since 2019. In early 2020, Dr. Kim and Elise decided to become active in reversing the pandemic slide and formed Kids STEP UP. Through cross-age peer tutoring, connecting older students with less privileged youth, learning can accelerate. Kids STEP UP empowers kids to help each other, strive for equity in learning, and build a healthier future together.

Impact

Kids STEP UP stands for Kids Serve To Educate and Promote health Utilizing Peers. We believe in the potential of utilizing trained teenagers (cross age peer tutors) to teach children, integrating science and fitness to promote health, and serving diverse disadvantaged communities. We are inspired to help school children catch up on learning, gain back what was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then advance to the next grade level curriculum. Each child is assessed and an individualized academic curriculum is planned. With one-on-one tutoring, each student receives personalized attention, developing a strong relationship throughout the year. We focus on comprehensive health, understanding that healthy minds and bodies are essential in learning.

How We Do it

Academics

In the spring of 2021, we reached out to families residing in Santa Barbara County, public elementary schools, and community centers. We screened students aged 7 to 12 years interested in Kids STEP UP. We used California’s Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy and mathematics for grades two through six. All students were offered participation. Six children started in July 2021 with a personalized academic program to catch up on previous grade learning and achieve next grade learning in an intensive summer curriculum. The program ran in-person, 5 hours a day, Monday through Friday, for 4 weeks. Each student was matched to a cross-age peer tutor to develop a strong relationship to promote learning.
Health

Our health program focuses on human organ systems, utilizing weekly themes to promote healthy minds and bodies. During heart week, students learn about the cardiovascular system and how to measure their heart rate using the carotid and radial arteries. In brain week, they explore cerebral lobes and functions, engage in relaxation techniques, and learn coping strategies for stress. Bone week emphasizes bone health through activities such as identifying bones with paper skeletons, playing “Bone Simon Says,” and participating in regular hikes during fitness hour.
Nutrition

Our nutrition module introduces the five food groups and a healthy plate of food, based on USDA Food and Nutrition Service expertise. Students learn about what foods are considered grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and dairy. Students then draw what they eat on MyPlate. From a fun hand-washing experiment to building their own balanced food plate, students are encouraged to make healthy choices. We engage students in interesting case studies about food allergies, like gluten and nuts, through exciting detective games about food labels. The nutrition module emphasizes the importance of understanding the five food groups and how a balanced nutritional plate can improve health.
Fitness

Our fitness program supports physical and mental fitness. We do yoga to promote flexibility and core strengthening. We stretch to warm up our muscles before hikes and cardiovascular workouts. We encourage students to hike to the mountain top, to build confidence and perseverance. We set a goal of heart rate increases during exercise activities to build a strong heart. Students enjoy the punching balloon dance off and jump rope contest. We believe that having fun during exercise promotes a healthy mind and body .
Computer Science

We work on a free block coding program made by MIT called Scratch. We study computer logic and vocabulary words, learning words such as variables, conditional statements, and functions. We hope to make computer science fun.
Math Games

Together with a licensed Math Consultant, we created a fun “Math Games” program for all 65 children in the summer session of our program at the Boys and Girls Club.
Math Games gives all kids the opportunity to work with Kids STEP UP tutors, improving their math literacy and skills, through a wide variety of white board, card and board games. Even more importantly, kids learn to love math, while also bolstering their academic confidence and self-esteem.