United Way celebrates national award

Coalition led by United Way Earns Second Pacesetter
National Network Honors Collaboration to Create Proficient Readers by Third Grade

At a national conference last month in Denver, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading honored its Shawnee County affiliate with a 2016 Pacesetter award for "building crosssector collaboration, communitywide mobilization and a coalition of local funders." The local group, which is coordinated by United Way of Greater Topeka, also won a 2014 Pacesetter for student readiness outcomes.

Nationally, the 21 communities, including major cities like New York, Philadelphia and Phoenix, that received a Pacesetter for collaboration are “leading the way in building broad-based awareness that creates shared ownership and translates into action and results” in the fight for school readiness, school attendance and reading proficiency by third grade.

Successful Partnerships

At the conference, Campaign lead Jillian Fisher, United Way Senior Director for Community Impact, and Trey George, Executive Director of Topeka Housing Authority (THA), Inc., joined panelists from Tampa, FL, Springfield MA, and Fresno, CA, to speak about the intersection of Housing and School Readiness. George and Fisher highlighted the Pine Ridge Partnership and the ongoing success of Pine Ridge Prep Preschool. The Shawnee County community was chosen to speak because of the especially powerful partnership between THA and United Way of Greater Topeka and how the both organizations leverage their relationship to improve school success.

Local tests show that 60% of low-income third graders are not reading proficiently. Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is targeted by the Campaign because it is a milestone on the path to high school graduation and later success. It marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Students who have mastered reading by that time are more likely to succeed in school and beyond.

Join the Campaign

To get involved in the Shawnee County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, contact Fisher at 785.228.5114 or jfisher@unitedwaytopeka.org, or visit the Campaign Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SNCOGradeLevelReading/.