LINC LETTER

Breaking News: Senator Schumer

Secures Early Literacy Funding for LINC

Learning Through Mexican Music and Storytelling

Celebrate Mexico Now resumed their in-person festival, and Literacy Inc. was at the forefront of this ground-breaking event.

QUETZALCOATL: Aztec Tales, Legends, and Music, brought music, dance, books, and stories to families in East Harlem and Washington Heights. The talented multilingual Mexican storyteller Valentina Ortiz, a recipient of Mexico’s Ministry of culture grant, blended Nahuatl and Aztec tales with music to make old legends come alive. Families connected with the Mexican traditions and language, dancing and singing along to the violins, trumpets, and guitars of The Mariachi Angeles de Nueva York, another special guest.

Music and storytelling have the capacity to convey long-standing traditions while building listening skills that are critical to achieving reading proficiency. As with books, these integral art forms serve to affirm a child’s own cultural heritage while opening up new worlds of knowledge and discovery.

State Senator, Robert Jackson, and Assemblyman, Manny De Los Santos, participated with a proclamation in honor of Isabel Navarro, an education advocate, founder of Casa Mexico. We thank our friends and partners for this extraordinary opportunity to engage New York City’s youngest readers.

LINC is proud to announce that Senator Chuck Schumer championed and secured funding for LINC’s Community Literacy Model as part of the federal budget President Biden signed into law on December 29, 2022. We celebrate the US Senate’s prioritization of children and its recognition of the critical role literacy plays in advancing equity and democracy.

We are grateful to Senator Schumer and also to Senator Gillibrand and our board for their resolute advocacy for children’s access to early education.