wits summer books
WITS Summer Books is an initiative that brings the WITS community together to raise funds to provide books for students' at-home libraries, teachers' classroom libraries, and the WITS program library. Teams of WITS supporters unite to raise money for a Chicago elementary school.
Join a team today and be part of fostering a love of reading for Chicago students!
wits mission, vision, & values
wits mission
WITS believes that literacy is the foundation on which all other learning develops. Our mission is to empower Chicago elementary students to discover themselves through reading while developing foundational literacy skills. We do this by creating community through literacy-based mentorship, enabling teachers to build diverse classroom libraries, and promoting book ownership at home.
wits VIsion
WITS creates opportunities for every student in Chicago to be literate.
wits VALUES
- Consistency
- Community
- Empowerment
WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
WHO WE ARE
WITS is the largest provider of no-cost literacy enrichment programming and activator of corporate partnerships in Chicago Public Schools. WITS is comprised of over thirty Chicago elementary schools, over fifty Chicago companies, and a network of hundreds of students, teachers, and volunteers.
WHAT WE DO
WITS programs help students develop a love of reading that guides them through the critical transition of learning-to-read to reading-to-learn. WITS offers a unique model, providing corporate engagement opportunities for Chicago companies through weekly literacy-based mentorship programs. Annually, WITS provides over 22,000 brand-new, culturally specific books to Chicago students' at-home libraries and Chicago teachers' classroom libraries.
WHY WE DO IT
- Only twenty-six percent of Chicago Public School (CPS) students met or exceeded reading standards in 2023, down slightly from 2019.
- Eighty-two percent of CPS elementary schools do not have a functioning library.
- Sixty-one percent of low-income families have no age-appropriate children’s books at home.
- Eighty-nine percent of employees report increased job satisfaction when allowed to participate in a well-designed volunteer program.
OUR IMPACT
WITS impacts the lives of over 3,200 students annually through mentorship and book-granting programs.
WITS programs are found in over thirty public schools in Chicago.
WITS activates over 500 mentors annually in our corporate engagement programs and volunteer opportunities.
WITS offers 100 grants to Chicago Public School teachers annually, enabling them to purchase books for their classroom libraries that cater to their students' needs.
WITS facilitates literacy-based mentorship programs for over fifty Chicago companies, providing meaningful and consistent corporate engagement opportunities.
WHY WITS PROGRAMS MATTER
WITS creates community through literacy-based mentorship, enabling teachers to build diverse classroom libraries, and promoting book ownership at home.
WITSK students build book and print awareness including reading left to right and distinguishing between letters and words.
Eighty-four percent of students agreed that participating in WITS made them want to read for fun more often. Reading for fun leads to more reading engagement and better reading comprehension.
One hundred percent of our partner teachers are satisfied with student participation in WITS. Teachers value that our programs promote a love of reading and support social-emotional development in students.
