2019 Literacy Grant Spotlights
As September and National Literacy Month draw to a close, we’re taking a look at some of the 2019 Literacy Grant Recipients and the work they’re doing to make a positive impact in the world.
This year, Phi Kappa Phi awarded Literacy Grants of up to $2,500 to 13 projects around the globe. Their focus ranged from helping teachers in their first three years of service to providing literacy support to villages in Tanzania. Here’s a closer look at three of the projects:
Renee Bogschutz
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Interprofessional Toy Fair and Expo
One in six children in the U.S. has one or more developmental disabilities or delays. The Interprofessional Toy Fair and Expo gives those children from birth to age 3, and their families, hands-on demonstrations of how playing and reading can be incorporated into the learning environment to increase growth and development. “At Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, we believe that helping people in our communities is a primary goal of health professions education. By partnering with service organizations like Phi Kappa Phi, we are able to make tangible differences in the lives of children with delays and/or disabilities that live and grow in our community,” shared Bogschutz.
Tyler Leng
South Dakota State University
Improving Health Literacy and Safety Through Infographic Fact Cards for Underserved Populations
The Health Literacy Project will focus on undereducated, poor communities; recent immigrants; and migrant workers to improve health literacy with user-friendly fact cards using free graphics and information from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cards will address nutrition and food safety, medication adherence and how to talk to health care providers, and vaccines.
Federica Zanet Wilhelm
University of Maryland University College
SoJust: A Zine on Social Justice Literacy
This project hopes to produce a literary publication by teens and young adults in Princeton, New Jersey, to advocate, educate, and inspire readers on issues of gender, civil rights, discrimination, and inequality. SoJust stems from a collaboration between the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, the Princeton Public Library, and is made possible by the Literacy Grant, which will allow for workshops, publication, and a wider reach in the community.
Read more about the Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grants program and see what literacy initiatives are being championed by all of 2019 grant recipients.
Photo provided by award recipient - Nursing, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology students from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center demonstrate the use of a toy to a family who has a child with Down’s Syndrome.