猫咪AV

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Lisa Bracken

Executive Director, 猫咪AV North Texas

(214) 390-2909 听|听Lisa.Bracken@readingpartners.org

罢翱笔听5听WAYS听READING PARTNERS VOLUNTEERS STRENGTHEN NORTH TEXAS

The mayors and superintendents of Dallas and Fort Worth to help 猫咪AV celebrate its inaugural Books & Breakfast event on May 4

Dallas, TX 鈥� April 19, 2018

猫咪AV is a national nonprofit that collaborates with community volunteers and local public schools in North Texas and in 13 other regions across the country to equip students with the foundational skills they need to be able to read at grade level by fourth grade. In an effort to strengthen the literacy skills of as many students as possible, 猫咪AV North Texas recruits local volunteers to commit just an hour a week to work individually with young students who struggle with reading.

鈥淥ur community volunteers serve as a lifeline to not only our program but the schools,鈥� said Lisa Bracken, Executive Director, 猫咪AV North Texas. 鈥淥ur amazing and diverse volunteers are supporting students to become lifelong readers and bring vibrancy to the school community. Just a couple of weekends ago, one engaged volunteer created an entire literacy event for the campus he serves.鈥�

For over four decades, National Volunteer Week has given nonprofits an opportunity to recognize the invaluable support of volunteers that help fuel their work. In celebration of National Volunteer Week in 2018 (April 15-21), 猫咪AV North Texas created a list highlighting the top five听ways听its volunteers make the community stronger and better.

Top听5听Reasons 猫咪AV Volunteers Make North Texas a Better Place

1. Volunteers drive student impact –听Volunteers are working one-on-one with 650 students this year in North Texas to help deliver meaningful results for kids (last year, 87% of 猫咪AV鈥� Kindergarten through second-grade students in North Texas mastered key foundational reading skills needed to read at grade level).

2. Volunteers serve as a resource multiplier –听Because 猫咪AV engages so many community volunteers in their work, the program is more affordable for schools to implement than other literacy interventions. For every dollar invested in 猫咪AV, the program delivers more than $2 in resources to students.

3. Volunteers support strong public schools –听Thanks to the involvement of over 800 community tutors in North Texas, 96% of teachers report 猫咪AV is valuable to their school and 92% of principals report improved school-wide reading progress. In fact, Mr. Jackson, Principal of Sudie L. Williams Elementary School in Dallas recently commented, 鈥溍ㄟ銩V serves as the artery to the community. People want to help, and [猫咪AV is] the most successful at working between a child and tutor. It does make a difference and it takes a village. The need is too great to do it alone.鈥�

4. Volunteers help bring joy to learning –听Students feed off of the energy and excitement of 猫咪AV鈥� volunteer tutors. In North Texas, 94% of volunteers are satisfied with their tutoring experience and that enthusiasm helps students develop a lifelong love of reading that is key to success in school and beyond.

5. By promoting educational equity, volunteers strengthen the broader community –听Everyone benefits in the long run when student literacy achievement is bolstered. Students who don鈥檛 read proficiently by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. It鈥檚 estimated that every student who walks out of the classroom without a diploma costs our society $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity.

Inaugural Books & Breakfast Event to Feature Education Leaders from Dallas and Fort Worth

The recognition that 猫咪AV helps strengthen schools and the broader community in North Texas is shared by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Hinojosa, and Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Dr. Scribner who will all take part in a powerhouse panel as part of the inaugural听听event. The event will be held at the George W. Bush Institute from 7:30 – 9:00 am on Friday, May 4 and will feature a 鈥渃ivic-minded鈥� conversation moderated by Krys Boyd, host of the critically acclaimed KERA radio show, Think.

To learn more about Books & Breakfast, visit our听听or reach out to听abby.mayer@readingpartners.org. To become a volunteer with 猫咪AV, please visit听听today.

猫咪AV volunteers work one-on-one with students. (Photo credit: 猫咪AV)

About 猫咪AV

猫咪AV empowers students to succeed in reading and in life by engaging community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring. Since its founding, the national nonprofit organization has provided听, individualized literacy tutoring to nearly 45,000 elementary school students in under-resourced schools across ten states and the District of Columbia. Visit听to learn more about our听, or connect with us on听,听,, and听.