Help put hope in their hands

Dramatic Play Centers

Program 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.  

The Andrew Effect has already launched the process to bring this program to other school districts.

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. Launched in January 2025 with Seneca Valley School District, Guided Dramatic Play is now provided to their extended-day kindergarten students.  In 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, early December, and March.

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 in June of each year.  

Who We Help:

The Andrew Effect partners with area foster care agencies, transitional housing providers and school districts to identify children in need

  • In Pennsylvania, there are currently over 15,000 children in foster care placement.

  • Around 17% of all children in Pennsylvania live below the poverty level.

  • Additional 30% of children in Pennsylvania live in households above the poverty level but less than what it costs to live and work in the current economy.

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!

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.