I’ve been impressed for years with Read Better Be Better (RBBB), a local non-profit education organization that partners older students (“bigs”) with younger students (“littles”) to help improve reading skills for each.
I watched them do their work at a local elementary school last year and I’ve been tracking their progress as they’ve grown.
So, as we celebrate what is working in education, here’s RBBB’s announcement that they are expanding in to even more schools.
Phoenix, Ariz. – Read Better Be Better (RBBB), a Phoenix nonprofit that helps children improve literacy skills and become better learners, has expanded to serve students in thirty-six sites throughout the greater Phoenix metro area, an increase from 26 sites in Fall 2018.
RBBB after school programs inspire and equip at-risk middlegraders through service-learning to assist struggling third graders by helping them build literacy skills. Third and middle grade students work one-on-one, in an after-school setting, following a preset lesson plan focused on reading comprehension.
RBBB was founded to address a serious problem in Arizona’s youth. Students not reading at grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate high school; yet 85 percent of Arizona third graders from low-income families are not reading on grade level.
“Read Better Be Better is built on the belief that all children deserve the chance to succeed and the knowledge that literacy is a stepping stone to academic and life-long success,” said Sophie Etchart, founder and CEO. “If a child can read proficiently by the end of third grade, there is an 89% chance that student will graduate high school, regardless of poverty.”
“Our program empowers students to recognize their own potential, and the opportunity for older kids in the community to be part of the solution,” said Etchart. “The youth leaders commit our curriculum to memory and implement it at home with younger siblings; younger students speak up in the classroom to convince their peers of the importance of reading. That is how we effect lasting, societal change.”
Kick off for Read Better Be Better’s Spring 2019 semester began the week of January 28, 2019 and finished the week of February 11, 2019. Each after school program runs for 10 weeks and accommodates each location’s individual schedule.
Read Better Be Better Spring 2019 Participating Schools (by order of program launch week):
ESTRELLA VISTA ELEMENTARY
COUNTRY PLACE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
BUCKEYE ELEMENTARY
BALES ELEMENTARY
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, BOB & RENEE PARSONS BRANCH
CENTERRA MIRAGE STEM ACADEMY
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, WARNER A. GABEL BRANCH
WHITTIER ELEMENTARY
ENCANTO ELEMENTARY
CAROL G PECK ELEMENTARY
SUNDANCE ELEMENTARY
WESTPARK ELEMENTARY
MICHAEL ANDERSON ELEMENTARY
DESERT THUNDER SCHOOL
BARCELONA ELEMENTARY
SHEELY FARMS ELEMENTARY
COLLIER ELEMENTARY
WILDFLOWER SCHOOL
INCA ELEMENTARY
MARIONNEAUX ELEMENTARY
STEVEN R. JASKINSKI ELEMENTARY
TRES RIOS SERVICE ACADEMY
FINE ARTS ACADEMY
LITTLETON ELEMENTARY
QUENTIN ELEMENTARY
LONGVIEW ELEMENTARY
ARIZONA DESERT ELEMENTARY
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, HARRY & SANDY ROSENZWEIG BRANCH
COPPER TRAILS SCHOOL
DESERT STAR SCHOOL
ELISEO C. FELIX SCHOOL
SOLANO ELEMENTRY
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, I.G. HOLMES BRANCH
AUGUSTUS H SHAW JR. MONTESSORI
CORDOVA ELEMENTARY
P.H. GONZALES ELEMENTARY
For more information about Read Better Be Better, visit www.readbetterbebetter.org.
