WITS creates community through literacy-based mentorship, enabling teachers to build diverse classroom libraries, and promoting book ownership at home.

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.

How well a student engages in back-and-forth communication is a strong predictor of whether a kindergarten student will meet first grade literacy targets.

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.

71%

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.

New research emphasizes the need for resources and programs that support students’ emotional well-being, which plays a critical role in their academic success.

100%

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.

Educators agree that schools play an important role in expanding access to books at home, but many teachers have fewer than one hundred and fifty books in their classroom libraries to serve all their students throughout the year—with 31% of teachers having fewer than fifty books.

According to the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), students who have robust classroom libraries are more likely to be frequent readers.

Surrounding students with books in the classroom helps them develop a sense of themselves as readers. Classroom libraries allow students to value their decision-making ability, giving them confidence and a feeling of ownership.

Mid-Day Mentoring

Mid-Day Mentoring (MDM) is a school-day literacy and mentoring program that pairs second through third-grade elementary school students and corporate mentors for one-on-one, 45-minute reading sessions. Mentors are transported from their workplaces to neighborhood schools. MDM promotes foundational literacy skills and a love of reading by reading aloud, sharing stories, and talking about books.

The Rochelle Lee Teacher Award

Named in honor of Rochelle Lee, a beloved Chicago Public School (CPS) educator and librarian who inspired generations of students to develop a passion for reading, the Rochelle Lee Teacher Award (RLTA) recognizes CPS teachers who share her commitment to cultivating lifelong learners. This competitive, essay-based application process is open to CPS teachers across all subject areas, from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Awardees are selected in June and receive a $500 grant to purchase brand-new books for their classroom libraries, ensuring students have access to diverse and engaging reading materials throughout the school year.

WITS Kindergarten

WITS Kindergarten is a one-on-one reading program that takes place at Chicago public elementary schools. Kindergarten students read with a consistent mentor each week, which allows mentors and students to establish a consistent reading rapport and build book print awareness and early literacy skills over the school year.

Workplace Mentoring

WITS Workplace Mentoring is an after-school program that provides for fourth through sixth-grade students to be transported by bus to corporate offices where they are matched with employees for one-on-one, 60-minute mentoring sessions. Mentors and students engage in shared reading and homework support.

Our Outcomes

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.

71%

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.

75%

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.

84%

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.

90%

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.

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