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Dear Friends of ForWords Literacy Lab,
A new school year has just begun! After a busy summer, we are excited to return to classrooms and schools throughout the Bay Area to support underserved students and teachers in the new academic year.
In each of our programs, we work to develop engaging projects that connect students with literacy skills, critical thinking, their communities, and the creative process.
Here are just a few of the programs we're launching this fall:
We will be working with more than 20 7
th and 8
th grade students at
Davidson Middle School on projects that emphasize
Communication Literacy (reading, writing, and speaking),
Cultural & Historical Literacy,
Arts Literacy, and
Information & Digital Technology Literacy. Meeting with the students twice weekly, we will discuss themes that directly affect their lives and communities.
These students will comprise a part of the Marin Community Foundation's "
Dreamers Project," a College Access and School Success initiative supported by a consortium of San Rafael City Schools, the Marin County Office of Education, and non-profit organizations.
Just down the road at
San Rafael High School (SRHS), we will be supporting through project-based learning
60 students who have recently arrived in the US and
who have limited, if any, understanding of the English language.
We will also be working closely with a team of
4 SRHS teachers who will be sharing these students in
English Language Learning classes, a Spanish Literature class, and - for the first time - a bilingual History class focusing on world cultures and geography.
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FWLL Summer Bridge students in the media lab learning digital & technology skills.
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As it has each year since its inception, our
FWLL Saturday Program continues to grow in popularity and we will be admitting even more students this year. We will be kicking off a new year of
digital projects, educational field trips, and more with an Open House for students and their families.
We are proud to introduce to the program a group of students from
FWLL Summer Bridge. During a five-week intensive program, we worked with rising ninth grade students who are primarily first generation and learning English as a second language to build
Communication and Digital Technology Literacies to help them prepare and succeed as they enter high school.
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Students in FWLL Summer Bridge Program worked on digital projects and studied Literacy Skills in Communication, History, Civics, Culture and Technology.
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"My daughter had a family trip planned to Mexico to see relatives. Once she got involved with ForWords this summer she refused to go on the trip... we had to cancel her plane ticket so that she could attend your program. We are so proud of her and also, I wondered if I could borrow the book she read? If you have an extra copy please, I would like to read it too."
- Parent of FWLL Student
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We are also continuing our work with UC Berkeley's Multicultural Urban Secondary English (MUSE) program. As part of this incredible partnership, FWLL staff and teachers at
Helms Middle School in West Contra Costa will be able to attend and participate in UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education
staff development programs and training.
With the help of MUSE, we will also be supporting a new English teacher at
Richmond High School with
curriculum planning and in-class support focused on a writing and literacy project.
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ForWords is thrilled to welcome
Miguel Godoy as our new
Director of Youth Engagement in Education and Community Outreach. Miguel's past involvement in ForWords has been essential to the development of our current programs and to our growth as an organization. We are so happy to have his skills, expertise, and energy in a new expanded role that we are sure will propel us forward even further in our work with youth in the community.
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Miguel Godoy (center) with FWLL Saturday Program students.
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"When you are able to see a student transform and be able to think critically, take on issues, and become an advocate for her or himself and others that are voiceless, then you know you have accomplished something. Then you know you have planted a seed that one day will fight to rise alongside others to transform our world to one that values diversity and equal opportunity for all humans in this land."
- Miguel Godoy
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Board of Directors
The Board is pleased to announce the election of five new directors: Alejandro Palacios, Marleen Roggow, Michelle Severy, Molly Stack, and Brian Staufenbiel.
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Thank you to all of you who joined us in support of FWLL at the last "Give Back Tuesday" at Iron Springs Brewery
!
It was a fun and lively evening and Iron Springs donated 10% of the night's profits to support our work.
We hope to see you next time! Stay tuned for details.
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As always, thank you for your ongoing support of our work.
We'd love to have you share this email and our website with friends, family and colleagues as we work together to build better futures for our community's youth.
Visit our website at
forwords.org to learn more or to make a contribution to our community literacy programs.
With thanks,
Jeff Gough, President
Gail Siegel, Executive Director
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