'They remember these experiences'

My name is Kristen Garretson. I’ve got Jessie, she’s 10, almost 11. And then Lucas just turned 9.

We had been homeschooling, and then we had some transitions going on in our family and I needed to put them into school (Ingels Elementary in Hickman Mills). And the biggest thing that helped them through that transition was LINC. It’s like a perfect hand-hold between my household, the school and the greater community.

I’m all about the program that they’ve been able to experience. Today we’ve got Scouts . . . Today there’s boxing . . .

And I said, “Boxing? I didn’t even know that they had boxing.” They’re really taking to it. They start showing me, like, these numbers, these combinations. (Her children say,) “Mom, don’t pick us up so early because we want to have our opportunity to box!”

The kids don’t want to leave LINC!

We feel incredibly supported. There’s great positivity and I have a lot of trust in the experiences that my kids get to have when I go off to work.

They remember these experiences. They show up. It’s positive. And they fell a part of something.