Director’s Message, March 2018
As we each do our part to improve literacy in our community, more and more we see the need to coordinate and align our services. Literacy cuts across all sectors and spans a lifetime. From employers to clinics and schools, for children and adults, we need to focus our efforts on improving the skills of the whole family in all aspects of life. It’s a big commitment, but one we can do together.
In celebration of Read Across America, The Literacy Cooperative, with generous support from PNC, hosted a special luncheon featuring Sharon Darling, the founder and president of the National Centers for Families Learning (NCFL) on March 7th. NCFL advances literacy and education by developing, implementing, and documenting innovative and promising two-generation (2Gen) practices, networks, and learning tools. By assisting parents and caregivers, as well as, their children with their learning needs, the entire family is empowered. We were excited to have Ms. Darling in Cleveland to share her best practices and to inspire us to strengthen our own learning networks for families.
This issue of our newsletter gives an overview of what a 2Gen approach looks like with links to articles and resources on the topic. We hope you will find these useful and thought-provoking. The Literacy Cooperative will host a Literacy Summit on May 11, 2018 to bring together early childhood and adult literacy providers, along with other types of organizations that serve families. We hope this will be an opportunity to take a deeper look at 2Gen approaches and how we can work more closely with each other to provide coordinated services.
Also, take a look at the feature about the Warrensville Heights School District’s Supporting Tutors Engaging Pupils (STEP) program. STEP is a one-on-one, volunteer reading intervention for struggling learners that uses a 6 part approach to achieve success. Warrensville Heights has a strong program that utilizes high school students as their trained volunteer tutors. They have had great results and fostered a cross-school community.
As always, we appreciate the work you do to improve literacy. We are always looking for ways of connecting with you. We have a diverse set of trainings scheduled for this year. Check out our Events page on our website to see what upcoming sessions are planned. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter so we can be connected on social media and join our mailing list if you are interested in receiving our “Literacy Week in Review” e-blast.
Regards,
Bob Paponetti