San Mateo Daily Journal
By Julia Lee
The Big Lift, a collective project focused on improving literacy among San Mateo County children, received $1 million in state funding to support its various programs that it has continued through the pandemic.
“It’s really amazing and significant that this is a state level investment in our local program here,” said Christine Thorsteinson, director of early childhood development at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
The state funding, advocated by state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, will help fund a five-week summer learning program with full-day STEAM and literacy enrichment for 1,200 low-income kindergarten through third grade students, and will also support the implementation of an evidence-based literacy program for the 2021-22 school year for 720 low-income preschool students.