Hello. What’s Up?! Hola. Moni. Hallo. Hei. Ciao. Bawo Ni.
and greetings in the language that feels like home to you! You are receiving this letter because somewhere along your journey you made it clear that you want to SUPPORT YOUTH VOICES IN KALAMAZOO through Read and Write Kalamazoo!
Thanks to recent research, we know that 63% of local youth in Kindergarten through 8th grade are not reading at grade level (Miller, 2023). The impact this has on their academic achievement in school is obvious and many schools, administrators, teachers, and support staff are doing their absolute best to help youth improve and succeed while navigating day-to-day challenges. But, they can’t do it alone — which is why RAWK exists! Alongside teachers, we diligently and wholeheartedly work to celebrate and amplify youth voices by cultivating their reading and writing skills via joy, creativity, equity and access.