the literacy cooperative
December 2018
New Edition
In This issue
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a message from bob paponetti
As this year ends, it is always good to look back, make goals for the coming year, and feel energized for the work before us. Progress has been made and we appreciate all the efforts you have given to make Northeast Ohio a more literate community.
 
We are especially pleased for the support and encouragement we have received to advance a two generational (2Gen) service delivery strategy that considers the needs of the entire family. We convened a 2Gen Summit this past year that strategically gathered early childhood providers, adult literacy programs, and workforce agencies. This event featured two national speakers, panels of local experts, and a feedback session that discussed how we can align services, so the entire family's needs can be addressed in an integrated manner. A 2Gen working group resulted from this summit. Look for a call to action that will be released soon.  Read More.
imagination library having great results
In 2017, The Literacy Cooperative (TLC), became a local partner to administer and fund the Imagination Library program in Cuyahoga County with the mission of improving kindergarten readiness and family literacy habits. At that time, in Cuyahoga County, the program was available and supported in nine, first-ring cities on the east side of Cleveland. These communities include Bedford, Cleveland Hts., East Cleveland, Euclid, Garfield Hts., Maple Hts., Shaker Hts., University Hts., and Warrensville Hts. In 2018 we received grants from the Sisters of Charity Foundation, the Third Federal Foundation, and The United Way to fund programming in the Central/Promise neighborhood, Slavic Village, and Glenville. Since inception, more than 6,500 children have been enrolled in the aforementioned communities.
 
In July 2018, TLC conducted a survey of families enrolled for more than 1 year. Results show that since receiving Imagination Library books: 78% are reading to their child more often; 86% indicated their child asks to be read to more often; 62% of parents said their child usually/often uses new words learned from the books; 86% believe the program is helping their child better prepare for kindergarten; 24% stated their participation has encouraged them to get a library card; and 33% said they used the library card more often. TLC is excited about these results and hopes to expand the program so that all children in Cuyahoga County can benefit from it. Learn More.
cle-bee fundraiser-s-u-c-c-e-s-s!
CLE-BEE Winner Cleveland Public Library
On September 13th we had our 3rd annual CLE-BEE Corporate Spelling Bee. 24 teams
swarmed together for a fun evening of competition and raising awareness about literacy. The final four included Cuyahoga Community College, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Thompson Hine and the Cleveland Public Library. Our emcees Betsy Kling of WKYC and Mike McIntyre of Ideastream marshaled the competition with ease and humor. Special thanks to Third Federal Foundation and Lubrizol as our CLE-BEE sponsors.  Watch Video.
Professional development-LLN, Contextualized curriculum webinar & teacher academy!
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By year end, more than 700 attendees will have participated in one or more of The Literacy Cooperative's (TLC)  training sessions, Literacy Learners Network (LLN) gatherings and special events. The LLN hosted panel discussions on the topics of navigating the legal system, building financial stability, and understanding human trafficking.
 
This year, TLC led the development and published contextualized curriculum for IT/Digital Literacy and Construction.TLC's inventory of contextualized curriculum now includes 40 hours of math and reading exercises related to IT/digital literacy and 40 hours for Healthcare; more than 150 hours of math, reading, science and social studies lessons related to construction and 150 hours for Manufacturing. There are 136 instructors with access to the curriculum. Partners using the curriculum are reporting that students relate well with the lessons and are able to correlate how the information applies to the workplace.

This year, 90 teachers and administrators attended our 8th annual Teacher Academy-Showcasing Creativity and Results in Primary Education. Our annual event gathers teachers representing the first ring suburbs and Cleveland Metropolitan School District for a full-day program featuring carefully selected educators who demonstrate to a 'classroom' of peers, the strategies and resources that have proven effective in their classrooms. Photo Gallery.
2GEN Literacy summit
TLC convened a 2Gen Literacy Summit in May bringing together 100 representatives of partner organizations to explore opportunities to develop a two-generation approach that supports family learning and parents as first teachers.  The Summit was promoted as part of Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Ohio Means Job's (OMJ) In-Demand Job Week events.  TLC and OMJ held joint planning sessions to educate the community about in-demand job opportunities and opportunities to assist children and parents together in advancing skills that lead to career pathways and family-sustaining wages.  One of the strongest comments shared about the Summit is that it was the first time that early education, adult education, and workforce development communities came together to learn about each other.

As a direct result of the event, more than 30 dedicated professionals representing parents, concerned citizens, human service and educational organizations, libraries, and foundations, volunteered to create a working committee to promote 2Gen policy, practices, and programs in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. These representatives requested that The Literacy Cooperative present a broad and articulate statement for the community, in essence "A Call for Action", clearly articulating what comprises a 2Gen approach, research as to its effectiveness, and most importantly, what economic and social outcomes Cuyahoga County can anticipate if the use of such an approach is widened. The Call to Action will be published in the first quarter of 2019.
reach out and read-more diverse book options
By the end of 2018, Reach Out and Read Greater Cleveland (RORGC) is on-track to provide 35,000 new, age appropriate books to pediatricians and family medicine doctors who concurrently incorporate a "dose" of encouraging words to share a book together throughout 32 clinics.

This year, RORGC stepped up its effort to help children see themselves in the books they receive from their doctor. We expanded our bilingual book offerings from Spanish to include Arabic and French books to our clinics that have families speaking languages other than English. We have been proactively working with our book sources (donors and vendors) to find books that reflect the community we serve and have subsequently be able to distribute more books that look like our children in Greater Cleveland. Learn More.
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