Child’s Voice Launches STREAMM Initiative With Community Partners

A wide-ranging initiative to bring interactive learning to the classroom is taking shape at Child’s Voice, with the help of many northern Illinois partners. The STREAMM program will enhance the curriculum already in place at the school for children with hearing loss. STREAMM at Child’s Voice stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math, and Music.

Child’s Voice, based in Wood Dale and the Roscoe Village neighborhood in Chicago, helps children with hearing loss learn to listen and to speak. Students wear hearing aids and/or cochlear implants, and programs use a child-focused, research-based curriculum, with the end goal of transitioning graduates back to their neighborhood schools. The Child’s Voice program serves nearly 400 children and their families each year.

Funding for this project comes from a variety of sources. The Naperville-based Driskill Foundation supports the STREAMM Program in multiple areas. The Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund, The DeKalb Community Foundation, a long-time Child’s Voice partner based in DeKalb, and the McMahon Family Fund at the DuPage Foundation, will provide grants for the music portion. The Kiwanis of Streamwood is funding Science/Engineering kids from the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville that can be used on site and via zoom with our remote students.

The Rotary Club of Schaumburg/Hoffman estates, another generous supporter, funded an Acme Creative Cart and art classes with Ben Olson from The Backyard Experience, a local nonprofit offering interactive creative experiences that hosts the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity Chicagoland. Academy-Award winning director Chuck Jones directed over 300 films and is known for his beloved, classic Looney Tunes characters.

Our preschoolers were recently “visited” virtually by Ben Olson from The Backyard Experience, who guided them through how to draw Bugs Bunny. The students drew along with him and then showed him their creations.

Child’s Voice’s Lead Teacher Anna Tess reported that Olson’s visit was “fun and engaging.” “STREAMM is a great way to challenge the students and their thinking,” she said.

Visit us and find more information at www.childsvoice.org. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @Childs_Voice, on Instagram @Childs_Voice, and on LinkedIn and YouTube, and please use #SmileyCV.

For more information, contact Carol Morency, Marketing and Giving Coordinator, at cmorency@childsvoice.org or (630) 595-8200.