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.
Started in 2005, Mid-Day Mentoring (MDM) is a year-long literacy mentorship program for second-third grade Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students. Once a week, mentors are transported from their workplaces to a neighborhood school where they meet with their student each week for forty-five minutes, enjoying shared reading, conversation, and relationship building activities.
The WITS Rochelle Lee Teacher Award (RLTA) is an award-based grant for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) pre-kindergarten to eighth grade teachers to help them add brand new books to their classroom libraries. CPS teachers apply for the grant and select books to enhance their libraries and receive books that their students may borrow.
Started in 2005, WITS Kindergarten (WITSK) serves Chicago Public Schools kindergartners. Students spend fifteen-twenty minutes once a week reading aloud one-on-one with the same mentor, practicing skills, and enjoying stories. WITSK helps students build book and print awareness as well as letter and sound recognition skills. WITSK encourages students to love reading.
Started in 1999, Workplace Mentoring (WPM) is a year-long literacy mentorship program for fourth-eighth grade Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students. Once a week after school, students are transported to a corporate office to meet one-on-one with their mentor for shared reading and homework support.
TODAY ONLY 28% OF CPS FOURTH GRADERS ARE PROFICIENT READERS, IN 2019 THAT NUMBER WAS 40%.
