Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County

Headquartered in Boynton Beach, Florida, the mission of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County is to improve the quality of life of those residing in and around Palm Beach County, Florida, by promoting and achieving literacy. The ultimate goal of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, a nonprofit organization, is to ensure that every child and every adult in Palm Beach County becomes a reader.^[1] One in seven adults in Palm Beach County is unable to read and understand information found in books, newspapers, magazines, brochures and manuals.^[2] Through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners, the Literacy Coalition strives to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. The organization's operates with the assistance of over 9,000 volunteers.^[3] In 2013, the Literacy Coalition provided services to more than 25,000 adults, children and families.^[4]

History

Representatives of business, government, libraries, the school district, the media, literacy providers and other community groups established the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County in 1989.^[5] In 1990, a Literacy Hotline was established as a single contact point for volunteer tutors and adult learners.^[6] In 1991, the first Love of Literacy luncheon fundraiser was held.^[7] In 1997, Literacy AmeriCorps began with funding from the Corporation for Community and National Service for the purpose of recruiting, training, placing, and supervising members to perform literacy tutoring with adults, children, youth and families throughout Palm Beach County.^[8] Also in 1997, the Literacy Coalition participated in the America Reads Pilot Program, as one of 15 national sites to involve volunteers with reading to at-risk elementary and preschool children.^[9] Additional initiatives with which the organization has maintained involvement include, but are not limited to Care to Read, Early Reading First, Reach Out and Read, Read Together Palm Beach County, Village Readers Program, though which thousands of Palm Beach County residents have benefited.^[10]

Community Partners

Community partners include Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, ASPIRA, Adopt-a-Family of the Palm Beaches, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, Boys Town South Florida, Center for Family Services of Palm Beach County, Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County, City of Boynton Beach, City of Delray Beach, City of Greenacres, City of West Palm Beach, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Farmworker Children's Council Inc., Guatemalan-Maya Center, Inc., Gulfstream Goodwill’s Transitions to Life Academy, Health Care District of Palm Beach County, Hispanic Human Resources, Inc., Lynn University, Max M. Fisher Boys and Girls Club, Norton Museum of Art, Salvation Army, Palm Beach Atlantic College, Palm Beach State College, School District of Palm Beach County, Take Stock in Children, United Way of Palm Beach County, Quantum Foundation, WXEL TV 42, and YMCA of Boynton Beach.^[11] Partnerships with local municipal and county libraries have been established with Boca Raton Public Library, Boynton Beach City Library, Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, as well as the Palm Beach County Library System.^[12]

Corporate Sponsors

Corporate sponsors included ADT, AT&T, Bank of America Foundation, Barnes & Noble, Comcast, Dollar General, Domino Sugar, Florida Crystals, Florida Power & Light, IBM, Levenger, Office Depot, PNC Bank, Publix Supermarkets, Starbucks Coffee, Royal Palm Mazda, Suntrust, and Wells Fargo.^[13]

Events

American Girl Fashion Show

The American Girl Fashion Show is an event which raises money for the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County's education programs tailored to children, youth, and adults. Models provide an educational look at how generations of American Girls have used clothing to express their own unique style and personality.^[14]

Loop the Lake for Literacy

Loop the Lake for Literacy is a fundraising and advocacy event hosted by the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. Participating bike riders follow a course along Lake Okeechobee. Loop the Lake for Literacy includes rides of 14, 34, 68 and 115 miles. The ride is one of the Literacy Coalition's most successful fundraising events.^[15]

Love of Literacy Luncheon

The Love of Literacy Luncheon began as the annual awareness and fundraising event for the Coalition with speakers through the years such as Former First Lady Barbara Bush, Danny Glover, Henry Winkler, Wally Amos, Walter Anderson, LeVar Burton, Retired Senator Paul Simon, Sean Astin, Melissa Gilbert, Dr. Ben Carson, Ann Patchett, Byron Pitts, Linda Wirthheimer, Pat Conroy, Brad Meltzer and Kate DiCamillo.^[16]

Pink Shirt Day

The Literacy Coalition, in conjunction with Prime Time Palm Beach County, both of which receive significant funding from the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, encourage afterschool programs across Palm Beach County to participate with their own on-site celebrations of how bystanders can make a difference when it comes to bullying.^[17]

Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee The Bee is the fall’s most fun and entertaining event that benefits the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County and its many programs serving the community from Boca Raton to Jupiter and west to Belle Glade. You may enter a team of three adults to compete and earn the title as the “Best Grown-Up Spellers in the County.” Bee Teams, Alphabet Letters and Ad Sponsorships are available.

Programs

Adult Literacy

Our Adult Education Program provides informational resources to the community for those seeking to improve their literacy skills, learn English or prepare to take the GED exam. We recruit, train and refer volunteer tutors for adult literacy programs throughout Palm Beach County. Our tutors work one-to-one with a student or with a small group of students.

After School Reads

For more than a decade, After School Reads has been a well-respected resource for afterschool programs throughout Palm Beach County. This year, After School Reads transitioned from training afterschool staff members to bringing literature-based reading, math and science lessons directly to the children.|

An exciting addition to this year’s program was the integration of technology. After School Reads enables children to follow up on the day’s lesson through a related app on an iPad. Older children also use Stop Motion Animation to bring the story to life. Children have been engaged and excited about listening to the book and interacting on an iPad. Afterschool staff members have benefited from observing how a high quality lesson is delivered by our Literacy Coalition staff.

Budding Readers

Budding Readers is an early literacy program that matches three-year-old children at child care centers with a Reading Partner for a weekly one-to-one interactive reading session. Reading Partners nurture the blossoming of these “budding readers” into lifelong lovers of books, reading and learning as they work with them to develop the early literacy skills they will need for future success in school.

Building Better Readers

Volunteers tutor three first and/or second grade children, one-on-one, in reading at selected Title I elementary schools throughout Palm Beach County during regular school hours. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. Commitment to tutor two sessions/week, 90 minutes/session (or team up with another volunteer and each tutors one session/week). No experience required. Training will be provided by the Literacy Coalition.

Glades Family Education

The Glades Family Education program serves adults and children from the Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay area. Adults learn English while improving their reading and writing skills. In addition, our learners receive training in job/life skills, parenting, health and financial literacy. They can also attend computer, citizenship and pre-GED classes simultaneously a preschool class operates for the young children of the adult students. Many are learning English as well as early literacy skills to enable them to succeed in kindergarten.

Literacy AmeriCorps Palm Beach County

The Literacy AmeriCorps program recruits recent college graduates from across the United States to spend a year tutoring and teaching in Palm Beach County. The Literacy AmeriCorps program has grown and thrived since 1998, when we began with 10 AmeriCorps members. We are currently a state AmeriCorps program with support from Volunteer Florida, The Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Our 40 AmeriCorps members who come from 20 different states are serving at 56 sites including libraries, family literacy programs, adult literacy centers, schools, community organizations, afterschool programs and preschool centers. At least two Saturdays per month, members volunteer with community organizations in service projects. These projects have included building homes with Habitat for Humanity, helping out at Special Olympics events, creating children’s literacy projects at afterschool programs, participating in homelessness awareness events, beach cleanups and many others.

In return for their year of national service, participants in this program, known as AmeriCorps members, receive a modest living allowance, an education award and health insurance. Literacy AmeriCorps provides opportunities for leadership development, professional growth and resume building. Many of our graduates have described their year of service as life changing.

Parent-Child Home Program

The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) is one of the most intensive home visiting programs in the country. Twice weekly home visits provide new books, educational toys and activities to families with preschool children. Home Visitors role model for parents how to appropriately use the program materials with their children to promote verbal interaction, parent-child bonding and school readiness.

Reach Out and Read

Reach Out and Read brings early literacy into pediatric examination rooms and has been shown effective by 15 research studies published in medical journals. During well-child checkups from 6 months to 5 years of age, doctors and nurses trained in early literacy speak with parents about the importance of reading aloud. At each checkup during that time frame, the child receives a new, developmentally and culturally appropriate book to take home and keep.

Read Together Palm Beach County

To involve 10,000 - 20,000 adults throughout Palm Beach County in reading the same book at the same time.^[18] This community reading campaign will entice adults who can read, but often don't, to get involved in the habit of reading again. It will also promote community dialogue and engagement as citizens gather together to discuss key themes. Former Governor Jeb Bush wrote to every city in Florida and encouraged them to form "One Book, One Community" reading campaigns based on the Palm Beach County model.^[19] Read Together Palm Beach County produced a handbook on how to conduct a similar reading campaign and Former Governor Bush urged municipalities to use this book to guide them in their campaigns.^[20] Participants include businesses, libraries, chambers of commerce, municipalities, local book clubs, neighborhood associations and many other groups.

Turning Bullies into Buddies

Turning Bullies into Buddies is a literature based character education program with a focus on anti-bullying. The program motivates youth to read by addressing socially essential topics and presenting engaging activities that foster friendships, empathy, responsibility, respect, compassion, kindness and caring. This year, Turning Bullies into Buddies transitioned from training afterschool staff members to delivering anti-bullying lessons directly to the children. Afterschool staff members not only observe how to use literature to teach social and emotional skills, they also learn how to use classroom experiences to engage children and apply the strategies being taught.

Village Readers Family Education

The Village Readers Family Education program in Delray Beach provides literacy instruction for adults and their elementary school-age children. The adults attend classes in the evening to develop language and literacy skills to prepare them for further education and enhanced employment possibilities. The children receive individualized reading instruction in the afternoon. In the evening, there is a children’s program with educational activities during the hours that their parents attend class.

Workplace and Community Education

The Workplace and Community Education Program provides customized instruction for adults who need help improving their English language skills, obtaining a GED or addressing specific workplace needs. Classes are provided at workplace and community sites throughout the county by trained adult education instructors. Classes are tailored to each particular site and the skill levels of the students. The adult students, who attend classes twice a week, develop literacy skills to prepare them for enhanced employment opportunities and/or future education.

Recognition

In March 2012, the Quantum Foundation honored the Literacy Coalition with a “Change Leader” award for the service that has been provided to the community through the Literacy AmeriCorps program.^[21] The Palm Beach County School District has honored the Coalition with Above and Beyond, and Business Partnership Award for its work with children attending elementary schools in disadvantaged District neighborhoods.^[22] In 2005, the Literacy Coalition was one of 78 organizations selected nationally for the Bank of America Foundation's Neighborhood Builder Award for exhibiting "the highest standard in community building."^[23] The Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County awarded the group its annual Striving for Excellence Award, in recognition of the Coalition's outstanding governance and administration.^[24] The Literacy Coalition has earned their five consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, indicating that the organization outperforms most other charities in the United States, and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.^[25] The Literacy Coalition was also among the first agencies to be certified by Nonprofits First, a Palm Beach County group advocating for efficiency in area nonprofit organization.^[26]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County.

• Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County Webpage