YOUNG READERS - FUTURE LEADERS CHILDHOOD LITERACY INITIATIVE

A staggering 54 percent of Silicon Valley’s third graders score at or below the national median in reading. In some neighborhoods, 75 percent of children can’t read or write at grade level. Research shows that children who are not fluent readers and writers by the end of third grade are dangerously at risk of not catching up to their peers.

Many children are already behind when they enter kindergarten. The average middle-income child has experienced an average of 1,000 hours of “read-aloud” by first grade. For low-income children, that number drops to just 25 hours. In fact, more than 60 percent of low-income children have no books in their homes.

In response, the foundation created Young Readers – Future Leaders, childhood literacy initiative involving local public and private agencies, and funders that are focused on early literacy from birth to third grade. Young Readers – Future Leaders seeks to connect parents, childcare providers and teachers with the resources available in our community to strengthen children’s literacy.

As of November 2006, more than $660,000 had been raised and an additional $430,000 in in-kind support for the initiative, with more than $560,000 in grants.

To learn more, contact southbaygrants@siliconvalleycf.org .

Year Three Milestones (July 2006 – June 2007)

• Matched a $40,000 challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

• Convened over 130 community members in a citywide dialogue on Latino early literacy at the San José Public Library in conjunction with Scholastic, Inc. in September 2006. Distributed more than 600 English, Spanish and bilingual books to children from Horace Mann Elementary School, the San José State Child Development Center and a local homeless shelter.

• Provided support to the local Raising A Reader® program run by Catholic Charities to provide early literacy activities for low-income, high-risk preschoolers in the San José area.

Year Two Milestones (July 2005 – June 2006)

• Funded 24 early literacy workshops partnership with the San José Public Library Foundation’s Books for Little Hands Program.
• Supported the opening of the Robert L. Severns Family Library at Grail Family Services in the Mayfair neighborhood.
• Provided eight mobile bookcase libraries and ten training sessions to support Go Kids, Inc. child care programs in southern Santa Clara County.

Year One Milestones (July 2004 – June 2005)

• Placed 65 mobile bookcase libraries in partnership with Bring Me A Book® Foundation throughout Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties.
• Funded 24 early literacy workshops in partnership with the Books for Little Hands Program through the San José Public Library Foundation.
• Convened educators, care providers and parents at an early literacy conference in April 2005.

Our Partners

We gratefully acknowledge the following donors for their support:

Anonymous (2)
Applied Materials
The BEA Foundation
E3 Institute: Advancing Excellence in Early Education
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County
The Junior League of San José
Juniper Networks Foundation Fund
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
San José Mercury News
The Santa Clara County Office of Education
Lianna Adauto
Candice Balmaceda
Thomas R. Bettencourt Endowment Fund
The Robert and June Chambers Trust
Chance Family Fund
William H. Cilker Family Foundation
The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation
Florence Korbus
Charles B. Kuhn Memorial Fund
Phil Kurjan
Barbara Larson
Lavenstein Family Fund
David and Holly Mendel Fund
Cindy Miller
Scholastic, Inc.
Severns Family Foundation
Debbie Silveira
The Simmons Family Fund
Robert N. and Florence Slinger Foundation
Jeff Sunshine

Advisory Council

Sandy Baba, E3 Institute: Advancing Excellence in Early Education
Cathy Boettcher, Go Kids, Inc.
Dana Bunnett, Kids in Common
Dianne Calvi, Bring Me A Book® and Chair, Read Aloud Collaborative
Jayne Capelin, Junior League of San José
Muhammed Chaudhry, San José Education Foundation
Mary Conroy, San José City College
Fred Ferrer, Community Volunteer
Charlen Fong, San José Mercury News Community Relations
Yolanda Garcia, E3 Institute
Veronica Goei, Estrella Family Services
Donna Hall, Bring Me A Book® and Read Aloud Collaborative
Jane Hills, Raising a Reader® Santa Clara County
Mike Honey, Raising a Reader® Santa Clara County
Rosa León-Monday, San José Public Library
Wasim Malik, San José Education Foundation
Ann-Marie Meacham, Junior League of San José
René Ramirez, San José Education Foundation
Terry Russell, Santa Clara Office of Education
Katie Stokes-Guinan, Grail Family Services
Patsy Storie, San José Unified School District
Julie Vennewitz-Pierce, eBay Foundation
John Williams, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation