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What started as a pilot initiative in 2012 to help create
young readers among African-American boys in kindergarten,
has exploded into one of the most requested and expanded
early literacy programs in Toledo. The program is set to get
underway the week of November 16 at four Toledo Public
Schools (TPS) – Pickett Academy, Robinson, Rosa Parks and
Leverette lementary schools.
Real Men READ-y
is a program founded by the African American Leadership
Council (AALC) of United Way and its partner, Read For
Literacy (RFL). The program recruits, trains and places
African-American adult male volunteers (MENtors) inside
select Toledo Public Schools to conduct one-on-one reading
sessions two to three times per week with at-risk
African-American kindergarten and first-grade boys. Since
its inception, the program has taken surveys and measured
the results of its impact.
To share details about this impactful program, please join
Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant, Ed.D, a
trained volunteer of the Real Men READ-y program, along with
AALC and RFL officials at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 16 at
Pickett Academy, 1144 Blum St., to help announce the
expansion of the program at four TPS schools for this
2015-2016 school year.
“Real Men READ-y is more than just about reading, it’s a
powerful tool for role modeling and mentorship that leaves
life-alerting mental images of the word ‘men’,” said Durant.
Additional news conference speakers include: Rhonda Sewell,
Governmental Affairs and Media Strategist for the
Toledo-Lucas County Public Library; Co-Chairmen of AALC’s
Joint Council Jeanette Hrovatich, RFL executive director,
and Craig Teamer, AALC Strategic Partnerships chairman. Also
attending the news conference will be RMR volunteers, and
Durant has invited several African-American male community
leaders – the same individuals whom he called upon to greet
male students on their first day of school at Martin Luther
King Academy.
In the highly publicized first day of school event,
African-American male leaders shook the hands of all of the
students as they entered school to instill pride, bust myths
and encourage determination and success. Durant said he
hopes that many of these men will volunteer as MENtors in
the RMR program.
Measured outcomes of the highly successful and growing
program will also be released during the news conference,
which will highlight last year’s successes, along with
current expansion plans and goals. For example, the program
has grown from 20 volunteers
in three TPS schools last year (2014-2015 school year), to
more than 60 in four TPS
schools for this current school year. More measured outcomes
will be revealed during the news conference.
Real Men READ-y utilizes the dialogic method of reading,
taught to volunteers by RFL staff, which emphasizes the
adult helping the child to become the teller of the story
through interactive and participatory methods. Here, the
adult becomes the listener, the questioner and the audience
for the child.
“This program was modeled after an existing program in
Chicago. Our local program differs due to its intention to
focus solely on African-American boys in an early literacy
setting. It’s a bold effort to call upon black male role
models, those working, retired and students, in the
community to assist the school system with creating a love
of reading along with pride in self, through interacting
with positive adult males in their own image,” said
Sewell, AALC co-chairman.
“The early literacy rates are alarming for at least
one-third of all children in the state of Ohio, but the data
for African American males is extremely detrimental. This is
unacceptable. That’s why AALC of United Way and Read For
Literacy, with TPS’s assistance and that of the dedicated
men in our community, are here to close that gap and help
our boys succeed in reading, in manhood and in life,” she
added.
The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library’s Faith Hairston,
Kent Branch Library manager, also an AALC Joint Council
member, also assists with the program. Her staff, RFL
officials, and community partners join together to select
culturally relevant books so that Real Men READ-y Mentors
and youth can view themselves in the storylines, characters,
images and context of the books used in the program.
AALC is an affinity group of the local United Way, whose
mission is to improve the lives of African Americans (with a
focus on African-American males) in the categories of
education, income, and health. To successfully institute
Real Men READ-y at select Toledo Public Schools, AALC joined
forces during its program inception, with Read for Literacy
(RFL), whose organizational mission provides literacy
services and training to children, adults, and families.
Real Men READ-y is the signature program of AALC of United
Way.
For more information on the Real Men
READ-y program,
please call Read For Literacy at
419.242.7323
or United Way of Greater Toledo at
419.254.4777
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