Note: the following proponent testimony for Ohio House Bill 96 was written and delivered by Hannah Gallagher before the Ohio House Children & Human Services Committee on March 5, 2025.
Chair White, Vice Chair Salvo, Ranking Member Lett, and members of the Committee,
My name is Hannah Gallagher. I am a Pre-K Teacher at Messiah Christian School in Reynoldsburg, OH. I am here today to talk about how beneficial Future Ready Five has been to our school, our teachers and most importantly, our students. I am in my first official year teaching. Last year I started as a Teacher Assistant, then began teaching halfway through the school year. Learning from Future Ready Five this year has been an amazing experience. Each month I am able to go to workshops and learn so much beyond a traditional teacher educator program. There are teachers there with all different amounts of experience. There are teachers that are just beginning like I am, to teachers with 30+ years of experience in teaching in the early childhood education world! Not to mention all the experience from the staff of Future Ready Five!
Anything I have struggled with; I have received the best advice from those around me at our monthly workshops. I am so appreciative for these workshops. Without them, I’m not sure how my first year in education would have turned out for me.
Future Ready 5 has given our school so many resources for our children. Every workshop we have received books, tablets, flashcards, videos, strategies, activities, Heggerty® curriculum, you name it. They also have shown us ways to create high-quality resources. Future Ready 5 has gone over different ways that are science-based and researched-backed for teaching. Most importantly, they teach us in a way to make sure our students’ young minds can understand. I have added so much I have learned from the Future Ready 5 workshops into my daily curriculums for my children and I see them learning more and more each day.
As I just mentioned, Future Ready 5 has also supplied our children with free tablets and a free subscription to the Khan Academy Kids® app, right at their fingertips. The practice exercises they have done through Khan Academy Kids® has made a huge difference. Certain areas they have struggled in, preschoolers are now excelling in. I can keep moving forward on my lesson plans, instead of needing to reteach things over and over. It also has been a great tool to keep the parents involved in our students’ learning.
Future Ready Five gives us the resources, help and knowledge to teach our youngest learners so much more beyond just the 4 walls of the classroom.
Future Ready 5 has also brought to our attention so many community resources and partnerships that are there to help our school, teachers and families, such as Spark, RISE, a variety of free programs at library and museum (just for FR5 participants), COSI, and more. Teachers and families also have unlimited access to highly qualified instructional coaches and kindergarten readiness coordinators, who show us the best way to set up our classrooms and how to plan interventions based on data. I would have never known about these resources right here in Central Ohio if it wasn’t for Future Ready 5.
Future Ready 5 helps to ensure that our young students are ready for kindergarten in all aspects. Future Ready 5 helps to ensure our children have a promising future. I truly believe everything they are learning through Future Ready 5 will help set them up for K-12 and life beyond.
Thank you for allowing me to share my experience today. My hope is that our representatives of Ohio will fund Future Ready Five for years to come, so that I can continue to grow as an educator and enjoy watching my students thrive academically and beyond. All children, teachers, and families deserve to experience the various benefits FR5 can offer. Our community and great state of Ohio deserves to experience the benefits FR5 can offer for its youngest generation who is ready to thrive!