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This summer, the Greater Austin Reading Coalition,a coalition convened by United Way for Greater Austin, collaborated with CDF Freedom Schools® Austin to offer impactful tutoring to 33 young scholars enrolled in their summer camp program. We recently had the opportunity to interview Director of Parent Engagement, Simone Barnes, who shared details about the enriching partnership and the culturally responsive, year-round support network provided by the organization. Can you please provide an overview of what Freedom Schools are and their core mission or purpose? Freedom Schools is a part of a national program. An intense and beautiful six week summer program, however we aim to build a sense of community year round.  The core mission of Freedom Schools:  It started in 1964 in Mississippi when African Americans were discouraged from voting, and there was no equal education available across the country. In 1964, white and Black college students from the north came down to Mississippi to help educate African Americans to vote due to the literacy tests. There was a freedom schools movement in the US. The movement shifted toward today, which focuses on curriculum for students during the summer to continue education. This is especially important to combat summer learning loss. Part of the Freedom School way is cultural and literacy. It is fun. It is not like day-to-day school. They learn that reading is about creativity and sharing a voice, not just passing a test. We also highlight the idea that reading allows you to change your community and […]

Earlier this year, we announced our expansion beyond early childhood education and into the K-12 space, with an initial focus on bringing together a diverse coalition of literacy advocates to increase the number of children reading on grade level by the 4th grade — a pivotal point in a child’s reading development. Convened by United Way for Greater Austin as part of our collective impact work to fight poverty, the Greater Austin Reading Coalition has been hard at work over the past year and has already made a huge impact in the lives of local children. We’re excited to continue to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into building a coalition to create equitable systems changes in our community.  We all know that a good story highlights the who, what, where, when, why, and how. But, these are also critical questions and factors that we engage with in our systems change work. Today we’re going to look at “the what” and “the how.” Throughout 2021, what work has the Greater Austin Reading Coalition engaged in, and how is it impacting local children?  In addition to building a strategic plan and laying the foundation for the coalition’s future work, we have been hard at work distributing culturally-relevant books. Just this year, together with our partners, we have gotten more than 50,000 books into the hands of young readers!  It’s important that children have access to books. Not only do they expand a child’s world, but are critical tools in […]