Reading Promise Week 2022 Report by Read by 4th

2022 REPORT

Reading Promise Week has a tradition Philadelphia is pr

We celebrated Philly's third annual fa festival from October 10-16, 2022. Re Promise Week is designed to celebra ways that reflect unique cultures of li highlight local resources, and intentio address the early literacy crisis throu of community strengths and joy.

We strive for these events to model a specific information, resources, and a known to increase the skills necessar to become proficient readers.

This festival is a collective labor of love. While Read by 4th staff provides backend support, Reading Promise Week is driven by the community, for the community. Neighborhood leaders, non-profits, civil servants, volunteers, and of course, Philly’s Reading Captains answer the call to organize, recruit, and deliver family events to support our next generation of readers

“The children were so excited. I thought I was impressed in last year, but 2022 was even better!”

GEANNA EleganceXtreme Inc & Reading Captain

TO SEE EVERY CORNER OF PHILADELPHIA COME TO LIFE IN CELEBRATION OF LITERACY IS TRULY POWERFUL. WE CELEBRATE TO HONOR FAMILIES, MOBILIZE COMMUNITIES, AND FIGHT THE LITERACY CRISIS WITH URGENCY AND JOY.

Jenny Bogoni DIRECTOR

Read by 4th

EXECUTIVE

BY THE NUMBERS

52 50

free family events hosts (44% returning)

15,475

new children's books in the hands of Philly's young readers

valiant volunteers offered their time, hands, and hearts

giveaway bags supporting parents with literacy-boosting resources

70 zip codes celebrated

9,0000 libraries involved book budget spent at local Black-owned bookstores

21 10%

Reading Promise Week 2022 the biggest and best yet!

Thank you,Reading Captains

No one quite reflects the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection like Philadelphia’s Reading Captains. These community volunteers not only connect families to resources year-round, they represented 44% of Reading Promise Week event hosts in 2022 Their enthusiasm, neighborhood knowledge, and tireless work are key to making Reading Promise Week a success For that, and the countless other ways they support Philly’s early literacy movement, we say thank you.

The power of partnership.

With the help of many hands, we designed, packed, and distributed 9,300 family literacy bags and 15,475 new children's books!

Critical to this year's success was a partnership with Your Child’s World Learning Center (West Oak Lane) and over 70 volunteers Nearly 300 volunteer hours were given to ensure communities received the materials they need Special thanks to the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement, Global Citizens, PNC, McKinsey & Company, and Joyful Readers for their support.

NEW & NOTABLE

PROSPEROUS PLANNING

Planning meetings have been a well-loved staple of Reading Promise Week since its conception. We exceeded our goal to provide more targeted support programming to enhance literacy events during the festival and year-round. This year, we held nine planning meetings. Eleven subject matter experts spoke with hosts about topics ranging from effective literacy activities and marketing to permits and safety

NEW YEAR, NEW GIVEAWAYS

Giveaways are a chance to promote positive literacy habits but most importantly, they're a way to excite, energize, and have fun! With the support of the Family Engagement working group, we created new resources, including Reading Promises tip cards and a Right to Read coloring book that features a poem designed to spark conversations about literacy access, diverse books, and give kids language for all that they deserve

WELCOME, CLINTON!

As a follow-up to last year's recommendations, Read by 4th hired Special Projects Manager Clinton Drees to honor the logistics lift of managing Reading Promise Week Staff and partners are incredibly grateful for the care he took in leading logistics, facilitating planning, and providing support to hosts and volunteers

GROWING IN-SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS

This year we saw schools, like Jenks Abram and James Logan, hold schoolwide literacy rallies with their students, families, and community to celebrate reading with games, activities, storytelling, and performances

CIVIC LEADERS MAKE AWESOME READERS

An increasing number of events brought in local politicians and civil servants to read with children

This was an excellent way to engage local systems leaders about the literacy crisis, as well as a terrific promotional tool A special shout-out to West Oak Lane Library whose series of guest readers included District Attorney Larry Krasner, mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker, and State Representative Christopher Rabb.

EVALUATING OUR IMPACT

We engaged an outside consultant to do a formative evaluation of Reading Promise Week to help us better understand the core elements of the model, identify future metrics for success, and articulate opportunities to strengthen our work in future years

CELEBRATING CULTURE HROUGH STORIES

everal Reading Promise Week events celebrated e intersection of culture and early literacy.

e Latinx Literacy Festival was a first-time event for host en Galan. Having attended Reading Promise Week 2021, e was so impressed that she became a Reading Captain, n Regional Co-Facilitator for Northeast Reading Captains!

ving never hosted a community event like this before, Eden ed planning meetings, office hours, and support from other mmunity volunteers to put together a wonderful ebration. There was free food, resource tables, a DJ, flags, , and games. And bilingual storyteller, Rebecca LaMar, had s and adults at the edge of their seats wanting more!

ces of Immigrants brought parents together to talk about experiences of teaching children to read in their second guage

sted by The American Chinese Museum, this discussion illuminated unique and shared experiences including the crosscultural value of oral story traditions, critiques of “diverse” stories that often don’t capture the experience of firstgeneration children, and the common challenge of feeling confident reading together when children correct your English This event was a truly novel experience for all involved and helped families build a greater sense of community

MAKING MOTIVATION MEANINGFUL

How do we get more children interested in reading? This year, a few Reading Promise Week events explored building motivation by tying literacy skills to popular hobbies and activities

Reading for Hoops was Shepard Recreation Center’s second Reading Promise Week festival This year’s event featured read alouds, local authors, crafts, food, vendors, and a live performance of the Reading Promise album by local children’s band, City Love. A basketball clinic run by Coach Kelly DuPree used children’s love of the game and drills that emphasized literacy skills to get them excited about reading

Sims Fall Community Festival brought reading to the rink for a fun-filled day filled with literacy resources, food, music, ice skating, and more! This event was well attended and received thanks to a partnership between SniderHockey & Education, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and First Book.

Build It! at Whitman Library got kids and kids at heart playing with LEGO, Magna-Tiles, and more In addition to building towers, families built a love of literacy with books about design, giveaways, and of course, resources for all

Thank You Breakfast

In November 2022, we invited all our partners to a Thank You Breakfast at Cherry Street Pier to celebrate all the hard work, creativity, and joy of Reading Promise Week.

We shared slideshows and overviews of our collective impact, listened to and shared stories, raffled prizes, and identified ideas to improve Reading Promise Week next year.

Special thanks to Authentic Ethnic Cuisine, Nature’s Gallery Florist, Quality Party Rentals, and Cherry Street Pier for helping us make this event a success!

ALOOK ALOOK BACK BACK

During Reading Promise 2021, partners and staff identified the following lessons and recommendations to bring forward in 2022. Here's a look at our progress and areas where we want to improve.

Community-driven commitment. Create intentional practices that ensure community vision drives the work. And make sure leaders are respected and celebrated.

Keep the giveaways flowing. Continue emphasis on culturally-relevant and multilingual books and materials

Honor the logistics lift. Hire a dedicated staff person to lead logistics, planning, and support

Clarify participation process. Refine application systems and update the RPW Host Guide to the explain process, deadlines, and expectations early

Cultivate connections and collaborations

Encourage community-level coordination so hosts are aware of what’s happening in their neighborhoods and can find pathways to collaborate.

Vary event types. Support partners in conceptualizing events that celebrate the groundbreaking literacy-rich activities happening citywide.

Continue planning meetings with an emphasis on capacity building (e.g. fundraising, permits, marketing), and create a playlist of training videos.

More promotion!

More staff time for storytelling and budget for communications planning and advertising

Redesign data collection. Shift data collection models to fit partners’ needs with a focus on calls and conversation

Trust-building through tradition. Sustainability isn’t about vanity, but asting

ALOOK ALOOK AHEAD AHEADACCESSORIE S

It's never too early to start planning. Given feedback from hosts and partners, we've identified the following growth opportunities to improve Reading Promise Week next year.

Seek partners and potential event hosts in Southwest Philly and Riverwards