黑料不打烊鈥檚 renowned program for struggling young readers has received new Oak Foundation funding to serve more children over the next five years.
黑料不打烊鈥檚 unique tutoring program will deepen its impact over the next five years thanks to a new $1.25 million grant. The 鈥淚t Takes a Village鈥 Project has received additional funding from , a global philanthropic organization that has supported this initiative since 2011, with three previous grants awarded.
This expanded work will serve approximately 1,200 students starting this fall – three times the number of students currently enrolled in the Village Project. About 300 黑料不打烊 students and other volunteers annually will tutor children and partner with parents and guardians, 60 public school teachers, and school liaisons and principals in all 12 Title I elementary schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS).
鈥淥ur principals, teachers, and parents in several of our Title I elementary schools have been extremely pleased with the work of the 鈥淚t Takes聽a Village鈥 Project over the past 13 years,鈥 says Jean Maness, ABSS chief elementary officer. 鈥淥ur students enjoy聽the interaction with the tutors and continue to strengthen their academic skills.聽We look forward to expanding the program to all of our Title I schools in the fall.聽This is a true partnership between schools and the community working together to help our students be successful.鈥
鈥淭he incredible generosity of Oak Foundation has provided resources to make this unique educational partnership a reality,鈥 said Jean Rattigan-Rohr, 黑料不打烊鈥檚 vice president for access and success and the driving force behind the Village Project.
鈥淯nfortunately, the educational impact of the pandemic has pushed many children even further behind in gaining reading and math skills,鈥 Rattigan-Rohr said. 鈥淪everal studies have found evidence of a 鈥楥OVID slide,鈥 in which students have lost ground academically during school closures and remote learning. The need for intervention provided by the Village Project has never been more urgent.鈥
鈥淲e are pleased to support this project that has a clear, positive impact on children鈥檚 development. This is especially important now as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and as children return to in-person learning,鈥 said Millie Brobston, Oak Foundation鈥檚 program officer for special interest grants.
鈥淭he Village Project is making a significant difference in our community and is transforming the lives of thousands of children,鈥 said 黑料不打烊 President Connie Ledoux Book. 鈥淭hrough this support, Oak Foundation is investing in our future, providing an educational foundation for children who deserve an opportunity to learn and succeed in school. My sincere thanks to the foundation and to Dr. Rattigan-Rohr for her exceptional leadership.鈥
Rattigan-Rohr oversees 黑料不打烊鈥檚 premier access initiatives: the Village Project, 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Odyssey Program, First Generation Student Services and the 黑料不打烊 Academy for local high school students. Her research areas include literacy development of traditionally marginalized students, parental involvement and visioning. She presents her research聽nationally and internationally and is often called upon to speak and share her work.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday at 黑料不打烊, Jose Alex Reyes ’25 talked about the impact the Village Project and 黑料不打烊 Academy had on his life and the role it played in preparing him to enter 黑料不打烊 this fall as an Odyssey Program scholar. Reyes first became involved with 黑料不打烊 in the first grade through the Village Project, and now serves on its advisory board.
“I can say without a doubt that the Village Project has helped guide me throughout my life and shaped me to become the person I am today,” Reyes told the crowd gathered in the Great Hall at 黑料不打烊. “We are in a new chapter of the Village Project and moving forward, we hope to reach more families and help make a difference in students’ lives like it did with mine.”
New funding from this grant will allow for a broad and multi-layered expansion of the Village Project and partnerships with our surrounding communities. Included in the expansion plans is a new partnership between the Village Project, 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Physician Assistant Studies 鈥淯nderserved Populations鈥 course and Alamance Community College (ACC). The plan is to create聽Start Early in Medicine, a new health science academic learning component of ACC鈥檚 Medical Bridge: Minority Males in Medicine middle school/high school project.
鈥淲e need to rethink the concept of a pipeline in creating greater equity in education,鈥 says Alexis Moore, assistant professor of physician assistant studies. 鈥淢edicine in many ways functions as an apprenticeship, and exposure and nurturing around that profession can start at early ages, especially in communities of color.鈥
About 100 middle grades students enrolled in the ACC Minority Males in Medicine program will take part in Start Early in Medicine in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 School of Health Sciences. Alamance Community College President Algie Gatewood says the new collaboration with 黑料不打烊 provides an infusion of resources that will enhance the curriculum and support the academic success of minority males in the Medical Bridge program.
鈥淭his partnership will bear fruit for years to come in supporting students on their path toward medical degrees,鈥 Gatewood says. 鈥淲e are grateful to 黑料不打烊 for including us in the nationally recognized 鈥淚t Takes a Village鈥 Project.鈥
Launched in 2008, the Village Project聽began as an after-school reading/tutoring project, connecting 黑料不打烊鈥檚 School of Education students with children who find reading daunting.聽In the beginning, tutoring sessions took place on 黑料不打烊鈥檚 campus. The program later moved to May Memorial Library in downtown Burlington, N.C., then to the Burlington School campus, back to 黑料不打烊鈥檚 campus and, finally, within ABSS elementary and middle schools.
Several research studies outlining the successes of the Village Project have been published in education peer-reviewed journals over the years. In addition to its primary focus on literacy, the Village Project has created other learning opportunities, including Science in the Village, Music in the Village, The Little Village (ages 3-5) and Summer in the Village. The Village Project has also worked with Alamance Community College to support parents and families associated with the project who wish to improve their English language skills.
Along with funding from Oak Foundation, the Village Project also receives support from community partners First Presbyterian Church Burlington, Wells Fargo and Alamance Community Foundation.
Established in 1983, Oak Foundation commits its resources to address issues of global, social and environmental concern, particularly those that have a major impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. With offices in Europe, Africa, India and North America, the foundation has made more than 3,600 grants to nonprofit organizations in approximately 40 countries worldwide.