Hello Freedom Readers Family,
Happy 2022!! The dawning of a new year is always an exciting time for me, but this year brings with it an extra-special dusting of glitter. After two years of mostly online operations, Freedom Readers is adding in-person meetings back to its menu of options! Parents, tutors, and scholars alike have been asking us to move in this direction for many months. The Board and staff finally agree that the time has come.
The spring session of the After School and Summer Literacy Program will consist of three distinct branches at no cost to families: The Reading Lab, K-8 After School, and our NEW program, Knights of Knowledge. Here’s a little more information about the first two. I’ll be filling you in on the third in greater detail in next month’s newsletter, stay tuned.
The first thrilling opportunity is our Reading Lab, which is offered to the community as a means of determining a scholar’s reading level and assisting the family in improving that reading level. We do this by assigning tutors who meet with scholars weekly via Zoom or another online platform. This option is great for busy families who want to fit literacy tutoring into their demanding schedules. Reading Lab scholars also have books mailed to them each month so that they can build their home libraries and practice the activities provided in their reading prescriptions.
The second option is our K-8 Afterschool Program, which is returning this spring. We will operate four sites: Piney Grove (Andrews/Georgetown County), Arnett AME (Downtown Georgetown), Plantersville Elementary School (Georgetown County), and Chesterfield Missionary Baptist Church (Longs Community/Horry County). Each site will host no more than 10 very fortunate scholars for the spring session.
Finally, I’ll just give you a quick glimpse of our NEW in-person Knights of Knowledge Program, which sends trained literacy volunteers into local after school gatherings to provide one-to-one literacy homework help and reading practice. The program is already underway at the Boys and Girls Club of the Grand Strand and we’ll be looking to expand soon.
We’ve beefed up our COVID protocols and we’re providing essential tools such as no-touch thermometers, masks to be always worn, and sanitation stations. We’ll be social distancing and doing everything in our power to keep our sites safe.
Taken together, our three options for improving reading skills will allow scholars to make connections, both with their books and their tutors. Scholars will have a great opportunity to concentrate on what they’ve been learning in school and reinforce lessons in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
We’re proud to serve our community in this way during these critical times. Thank you for standing with us on behalf of our children and for helping today’s scholars become tomorrow’s leaders.
Optimistically Yours,
Tracy
CEO
Freedom Readers, Inc.