Help put hope in their hands
Structured Dramatic Play Centers
Structured Dramatic Play launched in January 2025 in partnership with Seneca Valley School District Extended Day Kindergarten classrooms. The Andrew Effect supplied these fourteen classrooms with a dramatic play structure plus nine different play scenarios for each month of the school year. Example scenarios included a bank, construction site, car clinic, diner, a home, weather station, creator space, dentist, and hair salon.
During the 2025-2026 school year, Structured Dramatic Play expanded to include all kindergarten classrooms in Seneca Valley School District as well as the launch of Phase I in Butler Area School District. During the 2026-2027 school year, we plan to launch Phase II in Butler Area School District as well as four other new school districts who have approved this program into their cirriculums.
Students act out real-world situations and take on roles of different characters. This is a hands-on, technology-free activity that The Andrew Effect is bringing to local school districts. In Structured Dramatic Play, a teacher gives prompts to students including a job for the day and scenarios where the children can role play with their classmates. Scenarios include bank, car repair shop, home, hair salon, diner, creator space, construction site, weather station and dentist office. Studies show that dramatic play fosters crucial life skills as well as social, emotional, and cognitive development. Children learn about career opportunities while developing vocabulary, reading and math skills.
“My students absolutely love the dramatic play centers. So far, we have utilized the home center and the Park Diner. When the students were using the home center, they used their imaginations to play out scenarios from their homes. They cooked, cleaned, and everything in between. They used their social skills to communicate and make connections to the real world. Now, they are pretending to work at a diner. They love putting on the aprons provided in this center. They use writing to write orders and checks for one another. They are intrigued by the variety of foods within the center. Again, the students are experiencing real world connections as they pretend to be servers and cashiers. I am extremely grateful for the time and effort the Andrew Effect has put forth to bring these centers to fruition. My students and I enjoy these centers every single day. I have been instructed on how to clean and have been served many delicious meals. We are excited to transition to the Car Care center soon!”
- Jamie Allen, CVE Extended Day Kindergarten Teacher.
Adventure Packs:
Carefully curated Adventure Packs are designed to spark imagination and creativity, while promoting math, literacy, creativity, and science activities. Distribution occurs twice a year, before Winter and Spring break.
Reading Matters:
Literacy is step one to self-confidence and self-sufficiency. Summer reading loss is cumulative. By middle school, a child can lose up to two reading levels. To promote reading, the Andrew Effect distribute summer reading bags to area children. Each child receives five age-appropriate books to build their home library and encourage summer reading. Distribution occurs before the end of the school year.
Valentine’s Day Kits
One of the most requested items from parents to the school districts is Valentine’s Day supplies so their children can participate in school party activities. Many households do not have art supplies, shoe boxes or funds to purchase cards for their children.
Historically, many teachers pay out of their own pockets to aid these children. Based on this information, The Andrew Effect launched the delivery of Valentine’s Day kits in 2024. Each kit includes a shoe box, cards to exchange with their classmates, all crafting and building materials to create a Valentine’s Day masterpiece!
Who We Help:
The Andrew Effect partners with area school districts to distribute to children in need. In our current service area, there are over 57,000 households in need. This includes both households living below the Federal Poverty Level as well as Asset Limited Income Retrained, Employed (ALICE) households. This represents between 35-40% of the service area.
This includes over 29,000 children living in households struggling to meet basic needs. Our school district partnerships help reach these children and distribute through the school districts to eliminate any transportation challenges for families as well as limited parent engagement. We distribute through the districts, so every child has access. We collaborate with administration, teachers and guidance counselors to identify the children and their educational needs and interests.
Our Impact
The Andrew Effect relies on its partners to provide feedback on the impact of our programs. Our goals are that children experience the joy of opening something designed just for them, and that it increases their self-esteem and heightens their desire to learn. Armed with learning activities that children can use outside of the classroom, children may continue to explore their world, master new skills, and develop new passions. As adults, we can all look back and recall a special gift that enriched our childhood and fueled our life’s passions.
A recent referral allowed us to help three children, all living with their grandmother. We hand-picked gifts to match the children’s interests. For one budding scientist, the gift was a science kit and microscope. The family is facing grief and financial hardships, as both parents are deceased. The grandmother was grateful, as she juggles her life with three young kids and a job training program so she can improve their future as a family. With our partners, The Andrew Effect is proud to help children and families who need extra encouragement and some of life’s “extras” that can provide opportunities to learn, bond and form positive memories.