Literacy Grants
The Literacy Grants program was initiated in 2003 to mobilize members and resources of Phi Kappa Phi and the higher education community to champion literacy initiatives. Grants of up to $2,500 are available to Phi Kappa Phi chapters and individual members to fund ongoing literacy projects or to create new initiatives. The Society’s commitment to the cause of literacy grows out of and is consistent with its mission “to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”
2009 Literacy Grant Winners
- Sherri Jenkins, Southeast Missouri State University
“Born to Read” - The Born to Read program promotes early literacy through distribution of books to newborns at an area hospital. Phi Kappa Phi members, university administrators, and students hold special events to promote the program and prepare books for distribution by including a Phi Kappa Phi book plate and letter about early reading with babies.
- Jack Fisher, Valdosta State University
“Cartoon Economics” - This project partners the Valdosta State University chapter of Phi Kappa Phi with SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) from the Langdale College of Business Administration to provide economic education to approximately 230 kindergarten students in three Valdosta area schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Grant funds will enable the purchase of books and supplies, including copies of The Bernstein Bears’ "Trouble with Money" and "Dollars and Cents for Harriet" and materials to make piggy banks. The project provides instruction in basic concepts about money and its wise use.
- Mary Carpenter, University of Tennessee-Martin
“Yes We Can - Read” - Chapter 127 at the University of Tennessee at Martin and the Martin Housing Authority join forces on a literacy initiative to impact minority, at-risk children with a weekly read-aloud experience. The total of the literacy grant will be used to purchase multi-cultural children’s literature for use by volunteers in an after-school program at the Learning Enrichment Center at the Martin Housing Authority. The titles will also be available for UTM students, local families and area educators and will be marked with a Phi Kappa Phi book plate. - Stephanie Crouch, The University of Texas at Austin
“Literacy Library for Leveled Reading at Brushy Creek Elementary School” - At Brushy Creek Elementary School, the three Ls are taken seriously – Literacy, Library, Leveled. For the second year, we will provide leveled reading books for the school literacy specialist, teachers, and volunteers from the community and The University of Texas at Austin to assist beginning readers, below grade readers, and readers with learning disabilities. Our volunteers will use carefully selected books, with nameplates recognizing Phi Kappa Phi, to work one-on-one with students in order to help them gain better reading skills and to become life long readers.
- Kathleen Tice, University of Texas at Arlington
“Literary Livewires: Bringing Books to English Language Learners” - As part of a service learning project, students at the University of Texas at Arlington will read aloud weekly to children who attend the Open Door Preschool that serves low-income English language learners. The project will include a family literacy night where each child will be given a backpack that includes the five books that were read aloud. The books will contain the Phi Kappa Phi book plate, and classroom teachers will continue reading aloud from a classroom set of the books.
- Laura Featherstone, Boise State University
“Teaching Dialogic Reading in the Community” - It’s not how much you read to children, but how you read to them that really matters. Boise State University literacy students in conjunction with a local library will partner together in promoting Dialogic Reading through educational classes. Phi Kappa Phi funds will purchase learning materials and reading books to teach parents, grandparents, and caregivers how to read dialogically with their children. Participating children will receive a hardbound book with a Phi Kappa Phi nameplate.
- Michael Fiorentino, California State University - Fresno
“Project LEAP SMILE Center” - Phi Kappa Phi funds will provide supplies for The S.M.I.L.E. (Support Makes Involvement in Learning Enjoyable) Center, a part of Project LEAP (Leadership Education to Address Poverty). Individual supply kits with Phi Kappa Phi nameplates will be distributed to each child in this valuable
after-school program that pairs 4th – 6th grade students with Fresno State students who tutor/mentor them. Phi Kappa Phi funds will also be used to purchase supplies for group activities and shared use.
- Bethany Hill-Anderson, McKendree University
“Engaging Universities, Elementary Schools and Parents to Promote Family Literacy and Global Understanding” - McKendree University School of Education professors and students will create literacy bags containing the book, A School Like Mine: A Unique Celebration of School Around the World (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), and a variety of interactive activities. The literacy bag program will promote family literacy and global understanding while providing children and parents an effective way to assist in reading valuable books and guiding discussion to relate the content to their own lives. At the end of the semester, teacher candidates will present the literacy bags to the cooperating teachers to whom they have been assigned for semester field observations.
- Mary Pagliero, University of West Alabama
“Rock-n-Read Program” - For a second year, Phi Kappa Phi Chapter 276 will partner with UWA Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) to promote early literacy. Grant funds will be used to purchase baby board books. Three or four board books will be placed in a tote bag, along with student prepared literature on the importance of reading to children from cradle to kindergarten. The 500+ tote bags containing books and literacy materials will be distributed by Care Coordinators of the HealthStart Maternity Care Program (a Medicaid Agency program) to mothers-to-be in the Tombigbee Healthcare Authority service area.
- Paulette Harris, Augusta State University
“Literacy Volunteerism through Phi Kappa Phi”
- Phi Kappa Phi literacy project funds will support Augusta State University’s Literacy Center with research-based tools for intensive diagnostic assessment of literacy strengths and needs of tutees from our community. A plaque will be placed at our Augusta State University Literacy Center signifying the gracious support of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Kappa Phi members in our literacy endeavor.
- Cassandra Lawyer, Brigham Young University
“Promoting Literacy Among Underprivileged Children” - The Brigham Young University chapter of Phi Kappa Phi seeks to promote literacy, broaden and deepen an appreciation of reading, and foster a sense of community among underprivileged preschool and kindergarten children and their families through the reading of a common book. By giving these children their own books and stressing the importance of this critical developmental period to parents, children will develop a deep and enduring appreciation and understanding of literature, and parents will feel more empowered and invested in their children’s education. We will create an individual book bag for each student containing the selected age-appropriate book, a Phi Kappa Phi bookmark, a personalized, hand-written letter to the student from a Phi Kappa Phi member, and an educational letter to the parents with important information on literacy during a child’s younger years.
- Darris Means, Elon University
“Elon Academy Book Club” - Phi Kappa Phi funds will support a book club for the Elon Academy. The Elon Academy is a college-access program for local, academically-talented high school students with a financial need and/or no family history of college. The Elon Academy was started by Elon University in 2007 after a local high school was threatened with closure. The goal of the book club is to expose students to the importance of literacy beyond traditional classroom walls.
- Jeffrey Swift, Brigham Young University
“Project Plant a Seed” - In partnership with One Heart Bulgaria—a nonprofit organization that helps orphans in Bulgaria—Phi Kappa Phi volunteers will supply more than 700 children in up to 12 orphanages with a high-quality collection of books, complete with hand-picked titles appropriate for varying interests and abilities. Volunteers, orphanage staff, and interns from One Heart Bulgaria will use these new books to help cultivate a love of reading in these children. Chapter members will also hold a literacy promotion course with each orphanage, presenting them with the new books and promoting a love of reading.
- Kathryn Moery, Aquinas Literacy Center
“Creating a Lending Library for Adult ESL Learners” - The Aquinas Literacy Center in Chicago will use its Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant to expand and update its current collection by purchasing books, audio-books and bookcases bearing the Phi Kappa Phi nameplate. These ESL materials will be available for loan to over 185 current students and to their families, as well as students who are waiting for tutoring help. Currently, the center’s over 100 volunteer tutors include Phi Kappa Phi members. Continued direct volunteer recruitment through contact with the Phi Kappa Phi chapters at University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University will provide needed services and fundraising support. Phi Kappa Phi will be recognized in center publications and public relations materials.
