Deloitte’s commitment to education is steeped in the belief that education opens doors to opportunity. Part of that opportunity is having access to caring and dedicated adults. Mentoring is at the heart of Deloitte. It is embedded throughout our work and a hallmark of our corporate culture. The dedication of our people as WITS volunteers embodies this principle. We encourage all Deloitte professionals to be citizens who are engaged in helping provide access to the same opportunities we have all had the privilege to receive.
Revolution Brewing employee, Brian Elslager, reads with a pre-k student in WITS’ Early Childhood Summer Program.
WITS was founded on two core principles – building communities and empowering readers – which have continually sparked our leaders and mentors to strive for literacy equity across Chicago for the past 27 years. Since 2012, Revolution Brewing has contributed to WITS by providing their space in Avondale and in-kind donations for events, which has helped cultivate a stronger and more tight-knit WITS community. Now, Revolution employees have joined our literacy mentors in empowering students by participating in our volunteer programs. During the 2018 WITS Early Childhood Summer Program (ESCP), 18 volunteers from Revolution’s Sales and Marketing Department served kindergarten and first-grade students at seven elementary school sites.
Penn Elementary student reads with her mentor from BMO Harris Bank in the Mid-Day Mentoring program.
WITS is built on the values of community, consistency, and empowerment. Through two programs with WITS, BMO Harris Bank invests in the students of North Lawndale and empowers their employees to give back as volunteers. Since 2007, students in the Mid-Day Mentoring and Workplace Mentoring programs have met on Wednesdays during the school year with their mentors from BMO to read and work on their homework.
The WITS community of volunteers inspires students as they develop as readers and learners. Leadership is regularly seen through the actions and examples of the mentors that show up for their students, and the students who make a small investment in their academic success every time they read at WITS. This empowerment is seen in the Workplace Mentoring program with CBOE Global Markets, Inc. (CBOE).
February is an entire month dedicated to love and hearts galore. At WITS, there’s no one we love more than our students and their mentors. In the Student/Mentor Spotlight, we feature the people who make our programs great, like Giovanni and Mark from our Mid-Day Mentoring program at Perez Elementary. Giovanni is in the 3rd grade, and Mark works at Northern Trust, a WITS corporate partner. Read on to learn more about the things they love, like books and pizza toppings.
Libraries are inspiring places. I’ve always felt this way, but never felt so compelled as when I observe how engaged our students are while at the Thomas Hughes Children’s Library. Located on the 2nd floor of the Harold Washington Library, this newly-renovated, extraordinary space is where WITS has held Workplace Mentoring sessions this fall, in our partnership with Exelon Corporation and Lozano Bilingual & International Center. It is where you will see students and volunteers marveling over x-rays of toys at a special exploration table, challenging their engineering skills while building a Rube Goldberg machine, or simply cozying into oversized beanbag chairs to read about prehistoric mammals.
As the WITS staff and I enter Cook Elementary, I am greeted by a handful of students from my Workplace Mentoring Program (WPM). Before heading to class, they skip over for a hug and to ask, “Is my partner here?” One by one they ask about their mentor from GCM Grosvenor, WITS’ corporate host for the WPM with Cook Elementary. I shouldn’t be surprised they are so eager to see their partners. Over the course of the school year, the 33 Cook students who spent their Tuesday afternoons at GCM Grosvenor not only received homework and reading help from their mentors – but also created – together – a place for mutual success and happiness.
WITS partners with the Illinois Lottery to provide literacy enrichment and summer reading opportunities to thousands of students through the WITSummerBooks program. The Illinois Lottery strives to maximize revenue for Illinois schools in a responsible manner in addition to supporting community enriching programs such as the WITSummerBooks program. Sponsoring the WITSummerBooks program is a direct investment in student literacy and education for the Illinois Lottery, which is an important part of the Illinois Lottery’s mission. WITS provides books and reading assistance to youngsters in the greatest need of additional support. For them, summer books are lifelines to adventures, travel and learning opportunities they may not otherwise have.
By Julianne Bartosz, Senior Coordinator of Public Relations, Chicago White Sox
Learning takes place “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and
“Where the Wild Things Are” with friends like “The Cat in
the Hat,” “Junie B. Jones” and “Madeline.”
These children’s book titles bring different places and faces
to mind for readers both young and old. For 31 White Sox
front office staff members, these books are associated
with more than their own childhood experiences. They
are tools to create new memories with third grade
students at McClellan Elementary School through a
literacy program called Working in the Schools (WITS).
Beginning in 2015, KPMG has generously provided books to WITS students through the KPMG Family for Literacy (KFFL). Managed in collaboration with First Book, KFFL provides new books to children from low-income families. KFFL has provided more than 2.9 million new books to low-income children in communities across the country since its inception in 2008.
