Superintendent Dr. Dana T. Bedden and his team inspired Centennial School District educators, families, and school board members to come together to select books for summer take-home kits, engaging families and students with literacy. Read on to see how they did it!
Centennial School District (PA) wanted to use ESSER funds to support literacy and assist families in building their home libraries in grades K-5. They planned to accomplish this by purchasing book packs to send home.
This initiative showed a continued commitment to supporting their students through the following:
- Provide a variety of reading experiences – high interest / engagement
- Alignment to College and Career Standards
- Include Social-Emotional [and Academic] Learning
- Increase equity for and representation of our students
- Encourage family involvement in developing literacy skills
They were particularly inspired by a report from Hanover Research, A Parent’s Guide to Helping Your Child Succeed in Reading and Writing at Home. In particular: “Children need reading and writing skills to succeed in school, but learning these skills does not stop in the classroom. Becoming a good reader and writer takes practice, and parents can help their children by providing opportunities for practice at home.”
In order to bring additional voices into the decision-making process, we put together a survey for them that they shared with key stakeholder groups.
These groups received a survey describing and sharing ten titles per grade, and survey-takers each voted on five titles.
The winning titles were then packaged up and delivered to students. See what students and parents said about the experience of choosing and receiving the books in the video below!
Find a downloadable version of this case study here, or watch Superintendent Bedden and his team share their experience of inspiring their school district in this on-demand webinar.
Interested in growing literacy and family engagement in your district? Let us know how we can help!