The Corporation for National & Community Service and OneStar Foundation awarded the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Founda-tion (BBHLF) a three-year grant for five AmeriCorps VISTA members in April 2014. AmeriCorps VISTA was founded in 1965 as a national service program to fight poverty in America. In recognition that to break the cycle of poverty we must break the cycle of low literacy, this grant was awarded to help build our capacity to solve Houston’s literacy crisis.

AmeriCorps VISTAs commit one year of service to their host-site organization. As we staggered the selection and onboarding of each VISTA, BBHLF is happy to announce that we now have our full complement of five AmeriCorps VISTA members. We thank Bashir, Dekia, and Sara for their ongoing support and welcome Ashley and Stephanie, our newest VISTAs!

Soon the bells will ring again, and many Houston families will be shuffling their children off to school, donning uniforms and carrying supplies. Regardless of their age, children’s emotions will be a mixture of excitement and anxiety as they meet new classmates and teachers, learn new information, navigate the school and schedules for the day, and develop routines. The sense of optimism offered by a new beginning or fresh start and the hope for a bright future will fill the air of the freshly painted classrooms and hallways.

Our children are key to our city’s prosperity, and we will invest significantly to prepare them for higher education and the workforce, and to help them become productive citizens, who lead purposeful, successful lives. Much attention will continue to focus on, and rightly so, what our principals and teachers will be doing to ensure our children’s success.

While a new school year shines a light on the importance of educating our children, we must also recognize the importance of educating and training adults in our community.

Unfortunately, 1 in 5 Houston adults is functionally illiterate, and even more do not possess the requisite skills to fill the jobs of today, much less those of the future. What can we do? We must prepare these adults for the current demands of our booming economy. The viability of our city’s economy depends greatly on the ongoing investments we make in adult education, and the actions adults in our community take to obtain new skills and further their own education.

The many higher education institutions our city has to offer– technical and community colleges and universities, as well as community-based, adult learning organizations need increased capacity to meet this great demand. Get involved by volunteering as a guest speaker, tutor or mentor, offering pro-bono services based on your skill-area, donating needed equipment and furniture, or donating money to a worthwhile adult literacy program.

Education can aid in ensuring quality of life for individuals and families and serve as a catalyst for making dreams a reality. Let’s all be a part of the solution.

Julie Baker Finck, Ph.D. President

August 2015

AmeriCorps VISTA Members Join Our Team

Thanks to the generosity of Maersk Oil and Marathon Oil, more Houston children and adults will receive increased support from Community Family Centers (CFC), Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans (AAMA), and Higher Impact Ministries (HIM). Through a partnership with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, the two corporations donated 65 gently used computers to these community-based organizations in support of their literacy and workforce development programs. Both CFC and AAMA serve families on Houston’s East End, and HIM serves families in Houston’s Historic Third Ward. “We are very grateful for the computers from Maersk

Oil and Marathon Oil. The donation will enable CFC to open a second computer lab to serve our community so that they have access to information and learn the skills needed for success,” said Maritza Guerrero, president and chief executive officer of CFC.

Maersk Oil and Marathon Oil both have strong commitments to serving the Houston community and have been supporters of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. “I love that we are able to identify a need or problem in the community and facilitate finding a solution among our partners,” said Dr. Julie Baker Finck, president of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. “When we asked Marathon Oil and Maersk Oil if they had any available computers to donate to support program expansion in CFC, AAMA, and HIM, neither of them hesitated.” This is a great example of how the business community can get involved in the literacy cause. “Education is the number one focus area of Marathon Oil’s philanthropic programs, so donating these surplus computers was a natural fit for our company. We are very pleased to be able to put these important learning tools to good use through the programs of worthy organizations serving high-need communities,” said Paul Weeditz, director of corporate communications for Marathon Oil.

Oil Companies Impact Community-Based Organizations

Join Our Young Professionals Group

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation’s Young Professionals Group (YPG) is a collective group of individuals in Houston who are interested in serving children in low income communities through the power of literacy. The YPG hosts bi-monthly social and networking events and quarterly service projects throughout the year. As a YPG member, you will have the opportunity to read, lead, and serve our next generation. Contact Amanda@BushHoustonLiteracy.org to become a member.

Please join our YPG as we get ready to “Jump Into The Jungle” for our first Jungle Book Gala on October 16, 2015, at The Houston Zoo, Jaguar Exhibit. This black tie affair will be a fun and entertaining event; all proceeds will support the work of the Foundation. Go to www.BushHoustonLiteracy.org to purchase

Last school year HISD launched Read Houston Read, a program through which volunteers serve as mentors and read to struggling first-grade students once each week for 30 minutes. Nearly 600 volunteers committed their time to serve as Read Houston Read mentors in person, using Focused Literacy Improvement Program (FLIP) kits designed by the Children’s Museum of Houston or virtually using an online platform called Tutormate, designed by Innovations for Learning. First-graders across 56 elementary schools participated in Read Houston Read during 2014 and 2015.

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation is proud to be a strategic partner of HISD’s Read Houston Read program by providing funding, assisting with volunteer mobilization and management through Connect4Literacy.org, serving as volunteers and offering other supports. We are pleased that the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation, Phillips 66 and PricewaterhouseCoopers have also committed financial resources and volunteers in support of Read Houston Read. Due to the generosity of the collaborative of funders, Read Houston Read will expand this coming school year to an additional 26 elementary schools. This means more volunteers are needed to serve children who need one-on-one time with an adult mentor.

“We are calling upon the community to come into our schools and help change the lives of children by helping them learn how to read,” said Dr. Terry Grier, HISD superintendent. “There are so many children in our community who need an adult mentor and someone to spend time reading with them one-on-one. Read Houston Read provides them with these opportunities.”

Will you give just 30 minutes each week to read with a child? Go to ReadHoustonRead.com to learn more, and sign up and serve as a mentor at Connect4Literacy.org.

Summer is drawing to an end and soon kids will be heading back to school. Here are some simple ways that parents can help their children be successful during the school year.

1. Get your child ready for the routine of school. This means start now getting her to bed and waking her up in the morning at the appropriate time necessary for adequate sleep and an on-time school arrival. 2. Visit your child’s school. Make time to tour the school and meet the principal and your child’s teacher(s). Establish a relationship with them. Ask about your child’s daily schedule, learn about academic expectations of your child, obtain a school supply list and find out ways you can take an

active part in your child’s learning and development. 3. Be sure your child is healthy. Take your child to the pediatrician for a physical and update any required immunizations. Have your child’s eyes examined and purchase corrective lenses – if your child can’t see clearly, learning will be negatively impacted. Healthy bodies and minds need healthy eating, so be sure your child eats three good meals a day, especially breakfast. 4. Create a home learning environment. Find a space in your home that is conducive to your child completing homework, studying, reading, and engaging with you in learning. Be supportive and encourage and praise your child's accomplishments. 5. Make reading a habit. Schedule at least 20 minutes every day to read to or with your child. Reading will help her further her oral language development, advance her vocabulary, increase her comprehension level, and build her self-confidence. Reading together also helps build a bond that will last a lifetime.

More HISD Schools Open Doors to Literacy Volunteers

Five Back to School Tips for Parents

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Join us on Connect 4 Literacy, Houston’s go-to platform for people like YOU who want to experience the power of service to your community and become a point of light, working to solve one of our most critical issues – low literacy – by volunteering as an individual, as a team or in conjunction with your company. Visit Connect4Literacy.org and get started! Maybe as an English as a Second Language instructor with International Emergency & Development Aid (IEDA), or a grant-writer with East Side University (ESU), a citizenship tutor with the Harris County Public Library, a

book-sorter at Friends of The Houston Public Library (FHPL) or a reader with Read Houston Read. Whatever your passion, whatever your skill, there’s a way to get involved with us. Do you want to help break a Guinness World Record and offer a chance for children everywhere to experience the power of reading? Join us on October 19 as we team up with Points of Light for Read Across the Globe to raise awareness about the importance of literacy and put Houston in the Guinness Book of World Records for tackling this global issue. Learn more at www.Connect4Literacy.org/ReadAcrossTheGlobe!

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