READ > LEAD > ACHIEVE®

Changing Lives, Families and Communities

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, students and teachers still face unprecedented challenges. Access to books, both in homes and classrooms, remains more critical than ever as existing gaps in academic achievement continue to grow. As we shared in the Spring 2021 issue of The Arrow, our spring literacy initiative was created to respond to this need when our help was needed most.

With many of our traditional literacy events on hold, Pi Beta Phi collaborated with our partners at First Book® to reimagine the ways we could continue to make an impact. Pi Phis across the United States and Canada identified need within their own communities and connected qualified educators and organizations with First Book memberships. Each new registrant received immediate access to First Book’s extensive library of reading materials and resources, as well as a gift certificate toward new books from First Book Marketplace. Half of the books available featured titles from First Book’s “Stories for All” collection.

Books from this collection include diverse characters and themes, helping children gain confidence and develop empathy. As with all Read > Lead > Achieve® programs, the initiative was fully funded by grants from Pi Beta Phi Foundation, made possible by generous donors supporting The Literacy Fund. Educators and representatives from the newly registered organizations have reached out to tell us about the impact our literacy advocates and donors are helping to make for the children and families served through this initiative. Jamie Lanagan, an educator who works with students with special needs in Brooklyn, New York, shared the following reflection.

“I work at 53K, a public school in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. We’re a middle school serving students with moderate to severe special needs in grades six through eight. In my classroom, I support students with autism, intellectual disabilities and emotional behavior disorders. While my students have these disabilities, they’re very socially aware that they are “different,” are interested in and inquisitive about world affairs and challenge me with pop culture references. They overcome so many obstacles every day, and I will forever shout from the rooftops how incredible they are!

“Anyone who knows me knows my students have no choice but to love reading by the time they leave me — but as with any Title I school, our main need is always funding. For my students, funding directly impacts the availability of books in our classroom. We don’t have a school-wide library, so any books my students have access to come mainly from what I’m able to provide for them in our physical classroom — and we’ve been learning remotely for this entire school year due to the pandemic.

“Most of my students are children of color, so the need for diverse books that represent their voices and experiences is even more imperative. In addition, having a library that meets the needs of all my students is an ongoing struggle. In one classroom, I have students learning their letters alongside students who are practicing reading novels independently. My class typically studies four novels during the year, and creating a study unit for each one often means rewriting an entire book to meet my kids’ individual needs. In addition, my students have 30 minutes of independent reading time every day, where they can work on their individual needs and read books that interest them. This is why a diverse selection of books is so important! Having a gift certificate to First Book Marketplace has completely changed our classroom library, both in terms of the number of books and the content.

“As a school community, our other main needs are awareness and understanding. We need awareness of the difficulties that come with urban public schools, that what my students have is nowhere near what students in other areas have.

"We need awareness of special needs and how woefully underrepresented people like my students are in the workforce. My kids have every right to join the workforce, but how many of us realize how much discrimination exists against people with disabilities? And, we need understanding of the generational trauma my students carry that comes with cyclical poverty. With increased literacy rates, we can change lives, families and communities at their foundation.”

September is Read > Lead > Achieve Month

Every September, Pi Beta Phi celebrates Read > Lead > Achieve Month. As Pi Phi’s philanthropic effort, Read > Lead > Achieve inspires a lifelong love of reading. We ask every Pi Phi to be ONE who will participate, donate and advocate for literacy with us. Throughout the month, our social media pages and blog will feature stories from our members, chapters and clubs, helpful literacy resources and ways you can continue to make an impact.

How will you help to inspire a lifelong love of reading during Read > Lead > Achieve Month? How will your club or chapter participate, donate and advocate for literacy? Share your ideas, stories and photos with us at pibetaphi.org/submit and by using #readleadachieve on social media.