By Stacey Kratz
In planning a literacy fair in Plano, Texas, Jennifer Beech first considered her community’s unique needs.
“I thought about the population I teach, that I see on my campus, which is very diverse,” said Beech, who teaches pre-K English as a second language for the Plano school district. “We have a lot of English-language learners and first-time immigrants.”
Beech and other members of the BYU Education Society’s national alumni board are sparking literacy across the nation with efforts that embody the idea of lifting where you stand.
“I have a passion for children’s literacy,” Beech said. “It’s what I work in every day. I felt guided by Heavenly Father to focus my efforts on this project in this way.”
Beech’s team of “like-minded literacy builders” hosted a literacy fair. Booths from local businesses and nonprofits provided literacy activities, including BYU–Pathway Worldwide and the McKay School’s Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) program. The fair held classes on dyslexia, social-emotional learning, and building literacy at home.
Local “celebrities”— the mayor, a police officer, a firefighter—read to attendees. Most popular was a young woman serving as Miss Dallas Teen, said Beech: “She let the little girls try on her tiara.”
As they left, children “shopped” for a free book from a supply sponsored by the BYU Education Society. The bounty continued: months after the fair, Beech donated leftover books to Unidos, which provides outreach to Spanish-speaking Plano residents.
“Some of the successes are other than I thought they’d be,” Beech said. “There were wins I didn’t expect going into it.”
Among those wins are deepened relationships, Beech said: “I have a really strong relationship with the library now. The librarian told me, ‘Anytime BYU wants to do something here, I’m on board.’”
Beech, who plans to do the fair annually, has even seen benefits at work. At first “there was a lot of confusion” when she began promoting the fair in schools.
“It took a lot of work for my contact to understand it was really just service,” she said. “I think they wondered what my motive was. But they understand now.”
Jenny Richardson experienced similar effects from her own literacy project in Mesa, Arizona. “It was so great being able to build out in my community,” Richardson said.
Her project involved “some starts and stops” and a lot of flexibility. “What we started with was not how it turned out,” said Richardson, a veteran teacher who also served on the board of education for Mesa Unified School District, Arizona’s largest.
Richardson’s project involved sponsoring an Education Society booth on a Literacy Lane for families attending I Love Mesa Day, held downtown every spring.
And there was more, Richardson said: “We also provided 10-minute breakout sessions on a stage area on building a culture of learning, on the power of reading aloud, and on encouraging a striving reader.”
At the booth, young festival goers could win free bookmarks and books, Richardson said, thanks to seed money from the McKay School. The booth also had puppets from beloved books such as Interrupting Chicken and resources from SEEL.
Thousands attended the event, Richardson said, with more than a thousand on Literacy Lane. More significant than the numbers, she said, was the fact that “it was so much more than the people who would maybe typically show up at a literacy event.”
Richardson plans to keep her eyes open for opportunities to advance literacy in Mesa, including ways to support local teachers. “I love BYU,” she said. “Being on this board has reawakened in me an appreciation for the uniqueness of a BYU education and the fact that when they say, ‘Enter to learn; go forth to serve,’ they really mean it.”
Here are a few tips for putting on your own literacy event from Jennifer Beech, Jenny Richardson, and fellow BYU Education Society board member Codi Galloway:
• Expect skepticism—but also expect people to come around if you have plans that show your event is needed. Think creatively in seeking sponsors and volunteers.
• Choose the right date and place. Well-known, non-church locations (parks, libraries, other public buildings) work well, and organizers have found that late summer and fall are great times for literacy events.
• Recruit a team to spread responsibilities and bring in diverse perspectives.
• Focus on helping families and teachers, and do a book giveaway if you can.
• Get the word out through the right channels to the right audiences.
• Be flexible. Listen to feedback in planning and afterward, so your next event will be even better!