Blog

On February 1, 2022, A Stepping Stone Foundation Executive Director Cindy Gattorna signed a grant agreement with the Arizona Office of the Governor which is administering Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This is a BIG DEAL!!! The award for $490,000 will span two years and it…Continued

I was honored to be asked to present to education students enrolled at Maricopa County Community Colleges Mesa Campus in October via Zoom. Below is a link to that presentation about A Stepping Stone Foundation. Link to MCCCD Presentation This presentation gives an overview of A Stepping Stone Foundation, how COVID has changed what we…Continued

A Stepping Stone Foundation (SSF) once again warmly presents the Holiday Angel Program for disadvantaged preschool children and their families. Due to COVID restrictions, we can only serve 20 families (about 55 children), so our Angel tags are going quickly. Since the Shadow Rock campus is limited due to ongoing COVID mitigation, there will be…Continued

“The most eye-popping effects the researchers find are on high school graduation and college enrollment rates. The kids who got accepted into preschool ended up having a high-school graduation rate of 70% — six percentage points higher than the kids who were denied preschool, who saw a graduation rate of only 64%. And 54% of…Continued

A Stepping Stone Foundation gratefully received a $15,000 grant from the Arizona Republic’s Season For Sharing campaign.  Enjoy our little thank you to them here. $15,000 provides 20 families with 30 hours of high quality preschool, adult education, parenting education or home visiting. THANK YOU!

Each year, we invite former preschoolers who were in one of our Stepping Stone-funded LEAF programs for six months or more to apply for the Billie Gannaway Memorial Scholarship.  Over the years, two additional scholarship offerings have been added; Ivey Stepping Higher and the William O. Smith awards. $44,300 is the total of all 2021…Continued

Please welcome the newest A Stepping Stone Foundation scholars! Each year, we invite former preschoolers who were in one of our Stepping Stone-funded LEAF programs for six months or more to apply for the Billie Gannaway Memorial Scholarship.  Over the years, two additional scholarship offerings have been added; Ivey Stepping Higher and the William O.…Continued

Our last post showed our children and teachers saying goodbye to one another in song.  Today, we give you a little more detail about every-day, long-distance learning with our LEAF preschool children.  Let’s begin with saying good morning:   Later that same morning, Teacher Janet read the group a story about a wayward dinosaur named…Continued

This week’s blog theme has been about how the pandemic has shifted how we live our lives and how those shifts have impacted A Stepping Stone’s enrolled families and scholars.  How has COVID19 effected how we deliver our award-winning LEAF (Literacy Elevates Arizona Families) program to young children and their families? That is today’s subject. …Continued

COVID19 has taken a dramatic toll on our lives.  I hope we always remember the almost half million people who have already succumbed to its effects and all the families who have been touched by that loss of life.  Just as important to those of us remaining behind them, are the secondary effects: the heroic…Continued