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.
According to data from The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), based on testing from Spring 2024, only 31% of elementary school students in Chicago Public Schools are proficient in reading.
By the end of the school year, 71% of WITS students had met or exceeded the national standard for reading level proficiency in their grade level, compared to 39% at the beginning of the school year.
Seventy-five percent of WITS Kindergarten teachers reported that their students had developed specialized reading interests throughout the year, an increase of more than 30% from the beginning of the year.
Eighty-four percent of WITS students reported that they liked reading books for fun at the end of the school year, up from 68% at the beginning of the school year.
At the end of the school year, an average of 90% of WITS students reported feeling good or very good about spending time with their mentors.
Our Impact
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Books
Each year, WITS gives 10,000 books to students and teachers to build libraries. This initiative directly addresses the book-ownership gap affecting low-income families.
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Students
WITS impacts the lives of over 3,200 students annually through mentorship and book-granting programs.
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Mentors
WITS activates over 500 mentors annually in our corporate engagement programs and volunteer opportunities.
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Grants
WITS offers 100 grants to Chicago Public School teachers annually, enabling them to purchase books for their classroom libraries that cater to their students' interests.
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Companies
WITS facilitates literacy-based mentorship programs for over thirty Chicago companies, providing meaningful and consistent corporate engagement opportunities.
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Schools
WITS programs are found in over thirty public schools in Chicago.
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 thirty 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 10,000 brand-new, culturally specific books to Chicago students' at-home libraries and Chicago teachers' classroom libraries.
Why We Do It
- Only 31% of elementary school students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are proficient in reading.
- Functioning libraries are found in only 18% of CPS elementary schools.
- Seventy-one percent of CPS students come from low-income families, and 61% of low-income families have no age-appropriate children’s books at home.
- Of employees who volunteer through employer-sponsored programs, 79% are satisfied with their jobs, compared to 55% who don’t volunteer that way.
Why WITS Programs Matter
WITS provides a holistic literacy approach to empower students through two distinct program areas: Student Mentorship Programs and Book Granting Programs. Both are designed to enhance literacy and foster a love of reading, reaching students directly and indirectly through mentorship, classroom support, and book distribution.
With the help of their mentors, WITS Kindergarten students practice building book and print awareness, including reading left to right and distinguishing between letters and words.
According to data from The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), based on testing from Spring 2024, only 31% of elementary school students in Chicago Public Schools are proficient in reading.
By the end of the school year, 71% of WITS students had met or exceeded the national standard for reading level proficiency in their grade level, compared to 39% at the beginning of the school year.
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.
