K-16 University Partners Meeting: Early Literacy

Posted by on November 18, 2013

We are excited to announce that PHENND and the School District of Philadelphia are holding the next K-16 University Partners Meeting on Wednesday, December 11th, 3:30PM-5:00PM at 440 North Broad Street. The theme of this meeting comes directly from one of the District’s stated top priorities:  Early Literacy.

The PHENND University Partners Meeting is a new initiative that brings university, nonprofit, and school-based practitioners together around common themes.  Goals for this and all future K-16 University Partners meetings are:

– provide practitioners with “take aways” (e.g. ideas you can adapt for use in your own programs)
– exposure to new and innovative programs and practices
– introduction to key School District personnel

Presenters and “take aways” for this meeting will be:
How to engage older youth in early literacy
Jan Steinberg, retired teacher and founder of Literacy Corps.  Literacy Corps engaged older youth in addressing both their own literacy as well as those of younger children

How to support parent involvement in early literacy
Representatives from the Philadelphia Writing Project at Penn will talk about an initiative at W. D. Kelley School (also a PHENND AmeriCorps*VISTA project site) to create small groups of parents working on supporting early literacy strategies in the home.  Speakers will be Michele Bell, teacher at the Powell School in West Philadelphia, and Mattie Davis, teacher at the William Dick School in North Philadelphia.

Doria Mitchell from the School District’s Office of Early Childhood Education will provide an update on District initiatives and strategies.

Attendees will have the chance to ask questions to all presenters, network with peers and obtain concrete information on early literacy strategies.

Who should attend?
•    University faculty, staff and students who work with young children (pre-K through 3rd grade) as well as those working with older youth and families but who are interested in engaging them in early literacy.
•    Non-profits and community programs focused on early literacy who are interested in partnerships with colleges and universities
•    K-12 teachers, administrators and staff interested in community partnerships for early literacy

We hope you will join us. Please RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wD1T9I9z54_BZI3IhqhsGNHhHbSXjUub47_ZpQCfc04/viewform