UPDATED: County Partners with Rales Foundation to Establish Bell Program (VIDEO & PHOTOS)

UPDATED At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Navarro explains why it was important for the County to partner with the Norman R. and Ruth Rales Foundation and Montgomery County Public Schools to establish a Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) program in the County.

In this MyMCMedia Extra video, Councilmember Navarro discusses the first project that the partnership will be funding.

“As a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and a former member of the Montgomery County Board of Education, I know that early interventions and programs that reach children during out-of-school time are required to close the achievement gap,” said Navarro, who chairs the Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee and is a member of the Council’s Education Committee. “BELL provides students with a holistic program that not only spurs educational achievement, but also provides enrichment activities and emphasizes health and nutrition. This program has a proven track record and data-driven results. I can’t wait for our students to become BELL scholars.”

“The Rales Foundation is very excited about its new partnership with BELL and Montgomery County to bring a much needed, time tested summer program targeting ‘at risk’ second and third graders to improve their literacy and math skills,” said Joshua Rales. “Having been raised in Montgomery County by our parents, Norman and Ruth, my brothers Steven, Mitchell and I attended Montgomery County Public Schools. Therefore, we are thrilled to have the opportunity through the Norman and Ruth Rales Foundation to be part of the solution to closing the achievement gap in our community.”

The innovative program for second and third graders is designed to address the achievement gap by continuing learning in summer.

You can find out more about this program, here.

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