“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?”
… is a question once posed by Rabbi Hillel and has meaning today. The goal is to inspire people to take action now and provide the needed tools to help our children become strong citizens in our community.
Why is this Project important?
Studies have shown that if children are not reading at grade level by 4th grade, there is a much greater risk of students dropping out of school. They often end up in juvenile hall or in prison. Seventy-five percent of all incarcerated individuals cannot read at a 4th Grade level.
We are addressing this issue in Napa County by supporting the reading/literacy programs already in place. Both the local school districts and Napa County Office of Education have rolled out literacy programs. All are based on the Science of Reading, which is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically-based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. Napa County Reading Champions (“NCRC”) works as a community-based collaborative to provide reading and literacy assistance to students identified either by teachers, parents, or guardians. Participating organizations that will be part of this collaborative effort include the Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Napa Interfaith Council, NCOE (Napa County Office of Education) Cool School, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Napa Senior Center.
Barbara Nemko, Sara Sitch, Asha Levert-McDowell, representing the Napa County Office of Education, and Debbie Baldwin, representing NVUSD and in charge of their Expanded Learning Program will be supporting the volunteers for the NVRC program.