FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29th, 2020
PHOENIX, AZ. – A Phoenix-based 501(c)(3), Read Better Be Better (RBBB), was awarded $1,5000 from Masonic Charities for its after-school reading comprehension program.
In an effort to support the 62 schools and 10 districts that Read Better Be Better partners with during the COVID-19 global pandemic, RBBB has modified its after-school programming. As many students may not be participating in after-school programs in the traditional sense, RBBB created multiple programming options for the fall: the Read Better Be Better Family Literacy Program and Read Better Be Better At Home.
Read Better Be Better At Home is modeled after the Family Literacy Program but includes access to Site Leaders and additional online materials. Read Better Be Better At Home is targeted to families that have both a 3rd grade and middle school student in the home. Targeting these families allows Read Better Be Better to continue its core mission of teaching leadership skills in addition to reading comprehension. The Read Better Be Better At Home program has already received great feedback from its pilot program participants.
“I’ve noticed that [my reader] is reading at a faster pace, yet she still is understanding what she reads. She is improving majorly. After schools closed, I felt as if she wasn’t improving in her reading skills, but the RBBB program has really helped her surpass the reading level at which she began with. She not only reads at a faster pace, but she also uses a lot of enthusiasm when she reads, just like her leader,” reported one caregiver in the RBBB At Home Pilot Program.
The funding from Masonic Charities allows Read Better Be Better to continue its critical literacy work in the current times of economic hardship and adversity. Because of community partners like Masonic Charities, RBBB is able to fund the of rollout of its Read Better Be Better At Home program. RBBB is grateful to its community partners that recognize the need of students in Arizona, and commit to funding programs that make a difference.
David Miller from Masonic Charities says, “Arizona Masonic Charities is privileged to support this agency’s community-based literacy and reading programing. It is an important investment in people and the community. We congratulate Read Better Be Better in pursuing, and adjusting, programming in this time of unusual circumstances.”
RBBB was founded as a response to Arizona’s literacy crisis; the state is ranked 45th in the nation for childhood literacy and 48th for PreK-12 education. Currently, 69% of 3rd graders from low-income families in Arizona do not read at grade level, and students who do not read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade are four times less likely to graduate from high school. With proper reading intervention, there is an 89% chance that students who can read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade will graduate from high school, irrespective of socio-economic status.
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Contact:
Katie Herrick
Communications Coordinator
Katie@ReadBetterBeBetter.org
Direct: (623) 404-6030