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SIOUX CITY RECOGNIZED FOR WORK IN SUPPORTING EARLY SCHOOL SUCCESS
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading announced that it’s recognizing Sioux City with Pacesetter Honors for its work in 2019.
“We applaud the civic leaders and local funders whose time, talent, energy and imagination have fueled progress in these Pacesetter Communities,” says Ralph Smith, managing director of CGLR. “Mobilized communities — like these Pacesetters — support our big bet on the problem-solving potential of proximity.”
A collaborative effort by funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities to ensure that more children in low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship, CGLR focuses on promoting early school success as an important building block of more hopeful futures for children in economically challenged families and communities.
“Through our collaborative initiatives, 0-3: Prime Age to Engage has developed models that provide children with the tools they need to be successful in school,” said Matt Ohman, Executive Director of Siouxland Human Investment Partnership. “Our partnerships and coalition building have allowed us to ensure professionals working with our most at-risk children have the tools proven to close the educational achievement gap. As this designation shows, we’ve made progress and need to continue to mobilize our community by continuing to work with our schools, city agencies, nonprofits, civic leaders and parents.”
One of the 0-3: Prime Age to Engage initiatives being recognized by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is the Reading Prescription Program. Beginning in 2018, 0-3: Prime Age to Engage partnered with several family practice and pediatric providers to distribute books through the Reading Prescription Program. Children receive a new or gently used book during one of several well-child visits. Just over 1,200 books were distributed via four different clinics with numerous physicians in 2018. Then, beginning in 2019, the Reading Prescription Program expanded to reach parents even before their child was born by partnering with local OBGYN offices, prenatal programs and birthing hospitals to discuss the importance of literacy with soon to be parents. “The medical community has done a wonderful job of supporting this very important issue as they understand the importance of early brain development and the lifelong implications it has on the overall health of an individual,” states Michelle Lewis, Health Promotion and Planning Coordinator at Siouxland District Health Department.
A second initiative being recognized by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is the LENA Home Program. The 0-3: Prime Age to Engage initiative’s goal is to increase kindergarten readiness. A partner agency, the Community Action Agency of Siouxland (CAA), initiated LENA Home with a goal to have two families enrolled in LENA Home per home visitor to total 16 families. The program began with 19 participants and 11 families completed the class. Families increased the readiness skills of children by utilizing the LENA Home program.
Volunteers comprise the membership of the five work groups that operate as the 0-3: Prime Age to Engage initiative. The 0-3: Prime Age to Engage initiative involves over 70 agencies and over 250 volunteers in the various activities of the work groups. The 0-3: Prime Age to Engage initiative is a prime example of a community coming together around a cause, forming a plan and taking action to improve conditions that will have a positive impact on student achievement.
About the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Launched in 2010, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a collaborative effort of funders, nonprofit partners, business leaders, government agencies, states and communities across the nation to ensure that many more children from low-income families succeed in school and graduate prepared for college, a career and active citizenship. Since its launch, CGLR has grown to include more than 300 communities, representing 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and two provinces in Canada — with 5,000+ local organizations and 510 state and local funders (including 200+ United Ways). To learn more, visit gradelevelreading.net and follow the movement on Twitter @readingby3rd.