May 17, 2017

Reading Partners Charlotte participates in 100-Day Challenge

Reading Partners Charlotte is proud to partner with Read Charlotte, a community-wide movement that is dedicated to doubling the reading proficiency of third graders within the Charlotte community.

In 2014, the National Assessment of Educational Progress noted that only 40 percent of third-grade students nationwide were reading on grade level. Read Charlotte was created in 2015 with a goal of ensuring that 80 percent of Charlotte students can achieve reading proficiency by third grade.

To assist in this movement, Reading Partners Charlotte has participated in working groups, systems change workshops, and action learning teams to develop and strengthen ways of encouraging children to actively read. Together, we share a mission of providing services that will bring about measured results of student performance with reading at the helm.

Reading Partners Charlotte committed to a 100-day challenge as a part of the Active Reading team for Read Charlotte. The 100-day challenge consisted of creating a prototype, implementing a plan, obtaining feedback from targeted participants, learning, and refining the plan. We met twice a month throughout the 100 days. Because our proven curriculum involves a read aloud at the beginning and a student read aloud at the end of each lesson, this was the perfect fit for us. Our challenge specifically honed in on training and educating families in select daycares, schools, libraries, and churches on the ABCs of reading:

1. Ask questions
2. Build vocabulary
3. Make Connections to a child’s world

Although these elements appear simple, they produce impactful results when used consistently during read alouds. For Reading Partners Charlotte, it was a privilege for us to engage with families and delve into their child’s road to reading and understanding. More than 100 families were a part of this 100-day challenge.

We celebrated with our Active Reading learnings and successes on April 26, 2017 at the Read Charlotte 100-Day Celebration. Kudos to Kamy Taylor, program director, and Helen Hope Kimbrough, community program manager, for representing Reading Partners Charlotte in this effort. Additionally, we thank other Active Reading participants—the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Promising Pages, BELL, Child Care Resources, Inc., and Schermbeck Consulting—for their tremendous contribution. 

To learn more about the 100-day challenge inclusive of family engagement, kindergarten readiness, & summer learning plus Reading Partners’ role in the challenge, check out this amazing video featuring an appearance by Helen Hope Kimbrough, our community program manager.