Children's Literacy Project

As students returned to school this fall, many faced unprecedented challenges. A year of online learning has resulted in some of our most vulnerable children falling even further behind academically.

 

Augustine Literacy Project®️ of the Triangle (ALP-T) specifically targets children from low-income households with below grade-level reading scores - a population at disproportionate risk for school failure, dropout, behavioral problems, and other challenges without skilled intervention. And a population that has been especially adversely impacted by the pandemic. We do this by training and supporting volunteer tutors who provide free, long-term, one-to-one instruction using research-based, Science of Reading methodology.

 

These students need our help more than ever. Consequently, we need your help more than ever. We’re asking everyone we know to chip in and help us serve more students who need us during this critical time.

 

To help make your donation even more impactful, we have a generous, long-term funder who has agreed to match all donations up to $12,500 received by October 8, 2021. No gift is too small!

 

We promise to put the money you donate to good use. $25,000 would provide free training for 83 new volunteer tutors! That's 83 new tutors armed with the tools they need to change the lives of some of our most vulnerable young people throughout the Triangle.

 

Children like Charlie, who recently made these comments about his experience in our program:

 

At the beginning of fifth grade, I couldn’t read at all. I worried that a teacher would ask me to read out loud or answer a question. I used to think that kids would laugh at me. I never did my homework because I couldn’t. And I always got F’s in all my classes.

 

I am in seventh grade now, and I’m not worried that a teacher will pick me to read in class. I even volunteer to read out loud and raise my hand to answer questions. I can do my homework so I do it every day. Now I just need to remember to turn it in. I don’t get in trouble very often any more. And I am able to get A’s and B’s on my assignments.

 

When I’m not in school I can read to my baby sister and help her with her homework. I can read signs and directions on where I’m going because I can use a map. Knowing how to read helps me play video games and type on the computer. I can Google stuff now.

 

I have also learned to do some things that kids in my class, and even my big sister, don’t know how to do. I’m the only one in my class who can write in cursive. The first time I wrote my name in cursive in front of my big sister, she couldn’t believe it. She asked me, “How do you know how to do that?” This year I showed her how to look up words in the dictionary to find out how to spell them.

 

Now that I can read, I feel more confident. I can give a speech in front of lots of people. I can be successful.

 

Charlie's story is not an uncommon one. And while we never fail to celebrate these successes, we know that there are hundreds of children in the Triangle just like Charlie who could benefit from our services.

 

ALP-T’s program is designed around our passion for every child to have the opportunity to read, making a big difference in helping children succeed in school and life. If you share this passion, we ask that you join us in championing these students as we work to equip them with the literacy skills needed to grow and thrive.

 

Please make a donation today and help us spread the word by forwarding this post to others who care about children.