Literacy as a Priority
Soon after the Education Foundation was incorporated and organized, the Board began conversations with the Superintendent and academic staff leadership to identify programs that could be funded by the Education Foundation for the Flint Community Schools to begin pursuing its mission of enhancing student achievement. Improving literacy, particularly reading proficiency, was identified as an essential priority for the schools. One program that the District felt would be helpful was a reading program to help stem reading loss during the summer break. The Education Foundation Board, led by Harriet Kenworthy, began working with community partners and funders to find the resources to support a summer reading program. The “Super Summer Success Reading Program” was born. The program was funded by the Education Foundation and its funding partners for six years.
As the need for support changed, the Education Foundation turned its support to other efforts prioritized by the Flint Community Schools.
Literacy Efforts at the EFFCS
In keeping with its original objective of getting books into the hands of kids, the Education Foundation provided a grant to the CONNECT Program (Central Office Navigating Nurturing Engaging Children’s Talents). The CONNECT Program was developed by the District’s Office of Early Literacy and Numeracy. The program involves staff from throughout all the administrative offices volunteering to read to one child for the entire school year. The initiative was designed to support the third-grade reading legislation in Michigan. Forty-five Central Office staff members were assigned a first-grade student to read with and mentor each week. After completing a book, students were given the book to take home and help build the child’s home library. In the first year, 57 students were mentored and each received 24 new books. The program has continued and the mentors have remained with their students who are now in third grade. Evaluation and assessments will be underway to measure reading proficiency and the success of this mentoring initiative.
In 2020, a teacher at Potter Elementary sent the Education Foundation a wish for new books for her classroom library. While she had a number of books, most were old and she wanted some of the amazing, more recently published, books for her students. The Education Foundation applauded her request and recently delivered a box of books, personally selected by the teacher, for her classroom.
Community Literacy Efforts
As the importance of reading proficiency gained visibility and the needs of the community were highlighted, the Flint & Genesee Literacy Network was created. The Network hired its first executive director in 2014. The Network began a community-wide planning process in which both the Flint Community Schools and the Education Foundation participated. In the fall of 2015, a joint Flint Community Schools and Education Foundation Literacy Team was created to review the existing resources of the District, the new Superintendent’s vision and the District’s Education Plan. The idea was for the Flint Community Schools to develop a literacy plan consistent with the needs of its students, as well as the new community-wide plan. Education Foundation consultants provided data analysis and reviewed the trends of reading proficiency in the schools, as well as presented comparative program information on a variety of programs identified by Flint Community Schools staff.
The Education Foundation also participated in a community project called “Flint Sprint” which was a significant effort on the part of the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce and Deloitte Consulting, to kick-start some great ideas across a number of sectors that simply needed expertise and support to begin implementation. The Education Foundation worked with the Flint Community Schools and UM-Flint Community Outreach to design a reading program for third graders. The effort was intense and resulted in a completed proposal to the Flint Community Schools.
