Goodwill Manasota will launch its Good Readers program next week at Alta Vista Elementary School in Sarasota, to engage students and help develop and foster a love of reading. Volunteers will read to students on January 23, 2014 at 10:30am at Alta Vista Elementary School, where 94-percent of students are living in households below the poverty line. Goodwill will present each student with complimentary books at the end of the reading.
“Strong literacy skills are closely linked to the probability of having a good job, decent earnings, and access to training opportunities,” said Bob Rosinsky, president and CEO of Goodwill Manasota. “It is the greatest weapon in the ongoing struggle between success and failure – between economic vitality and prosperity.”
Research has shown that reading is the single most important activity for literacy development and is critically linked to children’s later success. Unfortunately, poverty and illiteracy are closely connected and parents raising children in poverty are less likely to buy or have access to books and more likely to have limited literacy skills themselves. The goal of the Good Readers program is to provide additional support and assistance.
“Education has always been a focus for us,” said Rosinsky. “This time we are reaching out to educationally at-risk students, to provide help to those who need it most.”
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Goodwill provides employees numerous education benefits such as literacy tutoring with the Literacy Council, ESOL classes, GED classes, high school diplomas for anyone who has a disability as part of the Workforce Education Pilot, tuition reimbursement, college classes in social enterprise management and leadership development, and more.
Title 1, Part A (Title 1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended (ESEA), provides financial assistance to schools with high numbers of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. The goal is to improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged.
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If you would like to participate in the Good Readers program, please contact us at 941.355.2721 x114 or email us at Rick Hughes at Rick.Hughes@gimi.org.
About Goodwill Manasota
Goodwill Manasota is an industry-leading, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization that changes lives through the power of work. We accomplish our mission through a network of Good Neighbor Centers in Sarasota, Manatee, Hardee and DeSoto counties and our Mission Development Services (MDS) around North America. For more than 110 years, Goodwill has provided opportunities through such programs as Donated Goods Employment Services, Job Connection, JobsPlus, Supported JobsPlus, HomeBuyer’s Club, Mission Development Services, White Glove Services, Good Neighbor Program and Ambassadors Program. Goodwill continues to assist people with disabilities and barriers to opportunity by changing lives through the power of work. Goodwill Manasota, Inc. is legally organized under the laws of the United States and the State of Florida. We are accountable to a local Board of Directors. Goodwill Manasota in essence belongs to this community, and is NOT owned by any individual or company. For more information, visit EXPERIENCEGOODWILL.ORG.
