LINC Letter Winter 2021

LINC LETTER Winter 2021

Equity begins with early literacy.

Reading Around the Globe on World Read Aloud Day On Wednesday, February 3rd, LINC joined millions of readers, writers, and storytellers around the globe in raising our voices for the 12th annual World Read Aloud Day, making this year’s celebration the biggest one yet!

At LINC, we could bear-ly contain our excitement during our Virtual Family Academy on World Read Aloud Day! Staten Island Community Coordinator Alyssa Hidalgo led us in a read-aloud of The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach, followed by an arts and crafts session where we each made our own bears. We were blown away by the talent of the young future artists as they shared their creations with us, and with over 100 families participating, that is a lot of little bears! We were absolutely thrilled to celebrate this annual literacy holiday with the rest of the world and glad that so many LINC families could join us.

Over the course of a 45-minute program, parents learned how to establish reading routines, connect with community resources, and were provided with opportunities to model literacy-building behaviors, all while reading and having fun with their family! That’s what makes our Virtual Family Academies so special. We help our families to create literacy-rich environments at home so that all children, no matter where they live, have the same opportunity to learn to read.

The pandemic has magnified the disparities children living in poverty were already facing before this public health crisis. Empowering parents to create a literacy-rich environment for their children is more important now than ever before.

Reading together daily as a family from a child’s earliest days can break generations of illiteracy enabled by poverty. With your help, we can create a more equitable city for all of us to enjoy.

Join us as we work to uplift NYC’s most vulnerable families! Transform a community today and give by texting ChildenDeserveExcellence to 44-321 or visiting www.lincnyc.org/donate.

LINC’s mission has never been more critical.

Questions? Contact us at kdorman@lincnyc.org.

LINC’s Virtual Programs LINC Honors 75 Very Involved Parents LINC’s continued perseverance throughout the pandemic is largely due to the generosity and dedication of our VIPs, who responded to COVID-19 eager to help other families stay safe and connected to one another. Thanks to relationships forged between parents in the VIP program, our families were able to rise to the challenges posed to their children’s continued education.

“Connecting with other parents and exchanging ideas, sharing struggles and celebrating our gains has been such a gratifying experience.”

— Gladys Gomez, LINC Very Involved Parent

Between consistent virtual programming children could tune into and regular check-ins with parents, VIPs worked together to bring hope and joy in the midst of a difficult year.

At LINC, we believe this work is essential to honor. On October 23rd, 2020, we virtually hosted our annual celebration for the many wonderful accomplishments of the VIPs throughout the year.

Our festivities included speeches thanking the 75 current VIPs, as well as videos of some of their children describing how impactful their parents are to their family and community. VIPs Gladys Gomez, Michelle Cotto, and Robert Perkins spoke about their experiences in the program, and Assistant Principal Allison Krenn praised LINC parents for transforming the learning environment at Public School 85.

Thank you to LINC’s VIPs for raising the next generation of readers and leaders as they shape their families and communities.

LINC Partners with Timberland for Black History Month LINC and corporate partner Timberland joined forces virtually for Black History Month with two fantastic service events in February.

The first project engaged volunteers in developing a list of children’s books written by authors of color, or that feature protagonists of color. Over 30 volunteers researched and produced a comprehensive list that is organized by theme and target age.

For the second project, Timberland volunteers created learning games for early readers ages 0-5 that connect our virtual programs to activities that take place in the home and make reading fun for our families. These games are being included in toolkits that we give to parents who attend our Parent Workshops and Family Academy programs.

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LINC LETTER - WINTER 2021

We are grateful for this wonderful collaboration with Timberland and the new resources we can provide to our families. Thank you to Timberland’s Corporate, Retail and Field teams for your service to LINC, as well as to Goodera for facilitating these virtual volunteer experiences.

LINC’s Collective Impact Building Literacy through Our Bilingual Virtual Bee Program On February 19, LINC facilitated the fourth session of our bilingual literacy-building Virtual Bee program.

This program is designed to support caregivers with babies and toddlers (under five) and help them develop close bonds with their little bees as they enhance their early learning skills.

Throughout this six-part series, five of the sessions focus exclusively on the foundations of early literacy: Sing, Play, Talk, Draw and Read.

During this session, our team had the pleasure of focusing on Play and discussed ways to build a child’s confidence and resilience through play, which of course includes our favorite pastime, reading! Play helps children develop new competencies, strengthen their abilities to face future challenges, and teaches them valuable lessons on how to share, negotiate, resolve conflicts and advocate for themselves.

What better way to learn than playing? LINC staff lead families in movement games, songs, and stories like the popular The Little Engine That Could that provide simple and memorable strategies to build literacy skills regardless of their own ability to read or speak English.

#TacoBoutBooks: LINC Fires Up a Love of Reading on Giving Tuesday From October to December 2020, LINC partnered with bestselling author Adam Rubin, Penguin Young Readers Group, Council Member Diana Ayala, Chef Joey Campanaro and a giant red dragon for a Giving Tuesday Campaign to raise awareness about the importance of reading to children from the day they are born.

“Literacy Inc. does such a great job of connecting children to books. There is nothing like having a book in your hand, reading it and feeling it. Especially during COVID, when many of our kids are stuck at home, distributing these wonderful books in this district is really helping our kids,” — Council Member Diana Ayala Thank you to everyone who supported this multi-faceted campaign and indulged LINC’s love for tacos. If you have not seen it yet, visit Literacy Inc. on our YouTube channel and watch LINC #TacoBoutBooks live on Pix11 News.

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LINC LETTER - WINTER 2021

LINC’s Community of Supporters LINC’s Board and Professional Advisory Council are Growing LINC is proud to welcome one new board member, Nahid Lakhani and five new Professional Advisory Council (PAC) members: Adam Brutocao, Alexandra Fen, Jessica Reich, Arjun Saraswat and Meredith Wallner!

Sunday morning yoga, waterfront family fun runs, or reading books at the local brewery, the LINC PAC team continues to inspire our staff and cultivate a new generation of literacy advocates.

As a board member, Nahid’s expertise as an occupational therapist working with young children and focusing on early childhood development will support LINC’s shift to serving families with children ages 0-5.

Also helping guide LINC through this transition is our growing Professional Advisory Council. Our newest members come from fields ranging from financial services to product management and marketing, and will utilize their unique skillsets to mobilize resources toward combatting New York’s literacy crisis. Whether it is virtual trivia night,

Literacy Inc. P.O. Box 822 Katonah, NY 10536

*temporary mailing address When a child reads, a community succeeds!

www.lincnyc.org • info@lincnyc.org 212-620-5462

From left to right, first row: Nahid Lakhani, Adam Brutocao, Alexandra Fen, Jessica Reich, Arjun Saraswat and Meredith Wallner