The Literacy Summit at Playhouse on the Square on September 9th will be an all-day event for those, working outside the traditional classroom, who want to improve the reading skills of young people in Memphis — and better their chances of success later in life. Organized by Literacy Mid-South and co-sponsored by International Paper and the Bodine School, registration for the summit (at a cost of only $10) is officially open.
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Featured speakers at the summit are Jeff Edmondson, managing director of StriveTogether, which is committed to helping children succeed in school, and David C. Banks, president/CEO of the Eagle Academy Foundation and founding principal of the Eagle Academy for Young Men in New York, which now operates six schools throughout the New York area. Banks is also the author of Soar: How Boys Learn, Succeed, and Develop Character (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster).
The summit’s late-morning and afternoon “breakout sessions” will be led by local educators and reading specialists, who will offer a range of educational strategies for better learning, and that means better literacy skills. Topics during the sessions will include phonological awareness, “toxic stress,” vocabulary development, the importance of read-alouds, and reading comprehension.
For the Literacy Summit’s full schedule and a link to the registration form, go here. But for the thinking behind the summit in early September, go to Literacy Mid-South’s executive director, Kevin Dean, who said by email:
“We created the Literacy Summit to address a need in the community. We became concerned that nonprofits and churches, despite having homework-help programs and after-school programs, were not properly trained to teach reading. At Literacy Mid-South, we believe the old adage ‘It takes a village.’ So, ensuring that churches, parents, and social-services organizations are equipped with tools to support what is being learned in the classroom is vitally important. We’re also thrilled that Jeff Edmondson and David C. Banks will be joining us. It’s going to be a great learning opportunity for anyone interested in making a difference in our education system in Memphis.” •
