By Art Garcia S.S. Dillow Elementary received a donation of nearly 1,500 books from Read Fort Worth’s Classroom Library Campaign on Tuesday, Aug. 29. The new, durable and culturally-relevant titles were distributed by students, teachers and Classroom Library Campaign volunteers to classes from pre-K through second grade. “Our major, major focus this year is reading,” […] Read more
The Fort Worth City Hall (City of Fort Worth) Council along with Mayor Betsy Price recognized Read Fort Worth’s 2018 Summer Scholars Cohort presentation of results Tuesday night. More than 800 students were served at 21 sites over the course of the summer and 59% of the children assessed gained literacy knowledge! Thanks to our […] Read more
By Art Garcia With the schools starting across Fort Worth ISD, a number of students returned to the classroom after a summer spent reading and engaging their minds in programs such as the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center. The CDF Freedom School is sponsored by the AB […] Read more
The Fort Worth Independent School District leads most major urban school districts in accountability gains, according to the Texas Education Agency. In fact, FWISD is touted by TEA as one of two top districts in Texas in year-to-year positive growth. “Four years ago, we had 24 IR or ‘improvement required’ campuses. On Wednesday, we learned we […] Read more
By Art Garcia Books are the heart of Read Fort Worth’s Classroom Library Campaign, an initiative developed with Fort Worth ISD leaders to ensure that young students and teachers have easy and equitable access to high-interest, culturally-relevant books throughout the school day. The Classroom Library Campaign delivered 1,000 new, durable and culturally-relevant titles to young […] Read more
By Art Garcia Childhood literacy is the focus of many summer reading programs and rightfully so. But as with most endeavors involving kids, getting parents and caregivers involved and invested in the process of learning only helps. And, as the Fort Worth Library has discovered through Families Reading Together, the benefits to summer reading […] Read more
By Art Garcia The task seems simple enough: Create a summer literacy program for elementary students in East Fort Worth. The reality was much more daunting. Dr. Elsa Anderson and Dr. Lisa Dryden, two distinguished members of the Texas Wesleyan University education department, were presented that challenge by Fort Worth SPARC executive director Tobi […] Read more
By Art Garcia, Read Fort Worth Fifth-grader Gabby Salinas held the room captive from her black rocking chair, reading The Lion’s Share aloud in the library at Western Hills Elementary. A simple tale of misplaced generosity and multiplication is so much more than just sharing a story and colorful illustrations. Gabby’s confidence shines through as […] Read more
2018 Fort Worth Summer Learning Day Proclamation Remarks from Kristin Sullivan, Read Fort Worth executive director during the June 26, 2018, Fort Worth City Council Meeting Thank you, Mayor Price and honorable City Council members. Tonight, it is my pleasure to stand with representatives of organizations that are working collectively to ensure that […] Read more
5 Questions with Maia Butler, Read Fort Worth’s Summer Scholars Cohort Project Manager The goal of our 2018 Summer Scholars Cohort is to create opportunities for children to continue learning all year long, expose students to books throughout the summer, align with FWISD‘s best practices in literacy, and to use a FWISD-recommended assessment tool to […] Read more