It takes a village: This program is boosting literacy for Scarborough kids
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It takes a village: this program is boosting literacy for Scarborough kids
The Green Line team visited Willow Park Jr. Public School in Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park to learn how The Reading Partnership brings together parents and schools to support children’s literacy.
Camesha Cox, founder of The Reading Partnership, stands inside the library at Willow Park Jr. Public School in Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
Amanda Seraphina James Rajakumar
Indian immigrant with a post-grad in journalism from Centennial College. Now living in Grange Park, meeting new people, and hearing different stories. Has four names, so it’s a pick-your-player situation.
Nov. 29, 2024
For some, school is stimulating. But for others, it can be really rote — a learning style that doesn’t suit everyone.
That’s why one group in Scarborough launched an innovative teaching model that aims to help all kids learn how to read.
Kingston-Galloway/Orton Park (KGO) is a Scarborough neighbourhood that sits between Woburn and West Hill. In 2011, nearly half of all grade three students in KGO didn’t meet Ontario’s standards for reading. In response, local resident Camesha Cox came up with a solution and launched The Reading Partnership that same year.
Thirteen years ago, 49 to 60 per cent of grade three classrooms across KGO did not meet Ontario’s standards for reading, according to Cox. But during the pandemic, those numbers increased even more, with 70 to 80 per cent of kids in KGO failing to meet Ontario’s standards for reading.
“As an educator, I understand very deeply that the response to this has to be a collective effort, right? Teachers alone cannot respond to this,” Cox explains.
"Imagine being in a class where 80 per cent of your students need one-on-one support. How do you provide that? So we really have to have all caring adults in a child's life equipped to support them, right? In school, at home and in the community. And that's what we do through our work.”
Children eat a meal provided by the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities (SCHC) while reviewing their literacy kit at Willow Park Jr. Public School in KGO.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
The Reading Partnership is a literacy program that collaborates with local schools and nonprofits like the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities (SCHC). While the program provides literacy material, SCHC creates partnerships with schools, finds families in need and delivers in-person programming.
What’s more, it offers The Reading Partnership for Parents, which supports moms and dads by equipping them with literacy kits to help them improve their child’s reading ability. The program also provides meals for them to eat together.
Felix Egbe and his daughter Isabelle Egbe, participants of The Reading Partnership for Parents program, sit inside Willow Park Jr. Public School.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
“I’m a parent that’s struggling to make it and I don’t generally have time for the kids. Now, how [The Reading Partnership for Parents] affected me is…I have time for them. I have different ways to teach them now," says participant Felix Egbe.
Egbe takes his children, 5-year-old Isabelle and 4-year-old Emrick, to the program. He adds that The Reading Partnership for Parents has helped him build a stronger bond with Isabelle, and also boosted his confidence in teaching her at home.
“[Some] families don’t want to open up…because they're afraid of being judged. I find certain stigmas are attached to certain groups of persons,” says Antoinette Brown, a SCHC staff member. “Some of the resources that might be there…families may not want to take advantage of.”
Brown says that as a result, some parents don’t access resources, such as a reading program.
Icon graphic of The Reading Partnership’s model of work.
: Paul Zwambag for The Green Line.
Last year, at Willow Park Jr. Public School, 80 per cent of third-grade students were not meeting Ontario’s reading standards. After The Reading Partnership stepped in, that number has fallen to 70 per cent.
Diana Keep, a special education teacher at Willow Park Jr. Public School, says the school’s partnership with The Reading Partnership began in 2018. Since then, students who participated in the program have become published authors themselves, going full circle from learning how to read to engaging other readers with their work.
Diana Keep, a special education teacher at Willow Park Jr. Public School, stands inside her office.
: Martha Gai/The Green Line.
The Reading Partnership now serves 130 families across four communities in Toronto and continues to grow by equipping organizations like SCHC to lead and facilitate their own local programs.
Its expansion started with Etobicoke in fall 2023, then Birchmount Bluffs in Scarborough last month. The Reading Partnership has also spread to other parts of Canada, including Ottawa, where they serve three neighbourhoods. The program is also launching its first international project in Ghana this coming January.
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