Commemorating a year of literacy accomplishments with a poem

By Iris Patterson, Literacy Specialist

*START Literacy Initiative wrapped up its first school year at the end of May, and it was a year of connection, confidence and building a love of reading. *START pairs struggling elementary school readers up with adult tutors who work together to support each child's unique reading goals. So far, every student who’s participated in the *START Literacy Initiative has made meaningful progress in reading fluency and phonics. As the program continues to grow, we’re proud to train and support dedicated tutors who create a positive, learning-focused environment.

We'd like to commemorate *START's year of literacy accomplishments with a poem:

An Ode to *START Fun in Year One

In the great Goodman story, a new chapter's begun
Where we strive to make LITERACY and READING more fun!

We've partnered with schools in awesome new ways 🏫
Because kids need help reading beyond the school days.

Our “Lit Club” is where students come after school
To get reading support and gain new reading tools.

What started with 6 kids, and 10 volunteers
Has grown quite considerably in this first year. 😍

We've trained over 30 new tutors to date
And tripled the number of kids on our plate.

Our friends Guardian Whiskers, bring dogs on Wednesdays
And the kids get to practice their reading with them - yay! 🐶

Beyond the school year, we dive into summer
To help avoid the “summer slide” that’s a bummer.

To do that we train our TEENworks to partake
In teaching kids literacy skills during break.

Our teens and our tutors plan lessons and games
And our pre-k to 5th graders say they're not lame! 🎉

Beyond training staff, tutors, and helping kids read -
*START's mission is to let folks know of the great need.

The literacy crisis is HUGE and it's REAL -
And our city must know of this urgent appeal.

So, we hosted two film screening community events,
Over 200 people came out - that's immense! 🎬

We’ve been doing our best - so much more to be done
But this is our *START Literacy Initiative YEAR ONE!