The Mighty Pod

Many families this fall are creating “learning pods,” in which a small group of students comes together with support from caring adults who help them with virtual learning during school days. The city is sponsoring free access sites for students from kindergarten to sixth grade to learn in such settings. There are also several entities in our neighborhood where parents are paying for their children to participate in learning pods, including daycare centers and the YMCA. But for 7th and 8th grade students who are not age-eligible for the city access sites and whose families cannot afford to pay for learning pods, the options available for support during the school day are few.

To help address this problem, Friends of Chester Arthur is providing eight scholarships for 7th and 8th grade students at Arthur to participate in a learning pod hosted by Mighty Writers.

This is an extremely exciting opportunity. Mighty Writers is a neighborhood nonprofit organization based at 15th and Christian. Through their after-school writing programs, Mighty Writers educators have extensive experience teaching children “to think clearly and write with clarity,” and they are hiring a dedicated staff member to work solely with this Arthur learning pod.

So what will this “Mighty Pod” look like?

• In-person assistance to make sure that students are keeping up with their virtual classes and assignments

• Support with technical issues

• Supplemental educational experiences when time allows, like reading and writing projects, help with high school application essays, or other projects based on student interest

• Breaks where students will be able to go outside for recreation and fresh air

• Social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing (except when eating)

The Mighty Pod will begin on Sept. 14 and run through Dec. 23, 8 am to 4 pm each day. If the Philadelphia School District transitions to a Hybrid Learning format at any point during this time period, the Mighty Pod will continue to be offered on the days that students are not attending school in person. FoCA’s scholarship will cover all costs of student participation, which includes providing students with lunch and snacks.  Please note that all participating students must be able to operate their technology independently and that the scholarship does not provide transportation.

This scholarship is intended to support students who would not otherwise be able to afford to pay for this type of academic support for virtual learning. Interested families should submit an online application. If there are fewer than eight applicants, FoCA will open this opportunity to students in other grades at Arthur, including younger siblings. If there are more than eight applicants, FoCA will use a lottery to select the eight recipients.