Kalamazoo: Families Find Promise in a Growing Literacy Community

Good news! In January, the Kalamazoo community will take a big step forward toward becoming a literacy community, one in which children receive strong early language development, reading, and writing training throughout the community. Lift Up Through Literacy will include a family literacy program and two parent education programs: one for the parents of newborns and one for parents of preschoolers.

During the pilot summer sessions, four sites had strong participation and will continue with the 2012 sessions. These are Open Door Ministries, Boys & Girls Club, New Genesis Education Center, and the Hispanic American Council. Two sites, Bible Baptist Church and Trenches Community Church, are new in their participation.

“It is great that Kalamazoo Public Schools has reached out to churches and community organizations through the Family Literacy and Parent Education initiatives,” said Ervin M. Armstrong, executive director of New Genesis Education Center. “This is an excellent opportunity to engage the community in helping to cultivate literacy and create a college-going culture among our youth.”

The family literacy program supports learning for parents, grandparents, and other community members who need to learn to read and write better, so that these adults are more capable of supporting children in their literacy efforts. The program will also help those parents and grandparents who do, in fact, read and write well to learn to work better with their children and grandchildren around reading and writing.

The family literacy program will provide opportunities and resources to build strong literacy for all. Operation hours for the Family Literacy Satellite Centers (FLSCs) will be set to accommodate families that may work during the day or in the evening. FLSCs will provide mentoring, tutoring, college-prep opportunities, and literacy strategies and practices for developing literacy skills of children.

The parent education programs will provide essential information about child development, language development, and early literacy, both for parents of newborns and preschoolers. There is a strong association between parents who interact with their children ages 0 to 5 and children’s skill levels when entering kindergarten.

KPS looks forward to establishing a comprehensive, community-wide partnership around literacy as a primary means of making Kalamazoo a college-going culture.

During the week of December 5 – 9, informational meetings will be held at each of the six sites with an opportunity for parents to register for the program. The first sessions will kick off the week of January 16 and continue until March 23. Two more sessions will follow: April 9 to June 15 and June 25 to August 3. Each session will conclude with a family celebration.

Site information and contact people are listed below.  

Program Manager: Yvonne Davis, (269) 337-0186

Hispanic American Council, 930 Lake Street, Lori Mercedes, (269) 385-6279

Open Door Ministries, 416 Phelps Avenue, Joyce Wells, (269) 599-3680

Boys & Girls Club at Edison, 915 Lake Street, Jill Angell (269) 349-4485

New Genesis Education Center, 1340 Cobb Avenue, Joyce Armstrong, (269) 343-7023

Trenches Community Church, 1003 Gayle Avenue, Pastor James Harris, (269) 343-2715

Bible Baptist Church, 1700 N. Drake Road, Dr. Maryann Lavender, (269) 382-1532

For more on the parent education and family literacy programs, please see the Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo section of this website.

Cutline for photo:

The Family Literacy and Parent Education site leaders and staff are (L to R) Front Row: Dr. Carol Hogan, Christina McGrinson, Abra Steppes, and Joyce Wells. Back Row: Bob Ezelle, Joyce Armstrong, Leona Burns, Wendy Stafford, Kathy Edlefson, Dr. Michael F. Rice, Pastor James Harris, Lisa Kincaid, Lori Mercedes, Deanna Hudson, Yvonne Davis, Dr. Maryann Lavender, Ervin M. Armstrong, and Barbara Witzak. Missing from the picture are Wanda Burton and Pastor Kevin Lavender.