Article by: Lena Miano of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Photo by: Staci Vandagriff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Adric Harris, a fifth grader at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership and Language Magnet Academy, has expanded his home library with three brand new books which he plans to start reading during spring break next week.
The new additions -- a book about a cat, another about a koala bear and a third about sharks -- intrigued the book enthusiast as he strolled by tables decorated with free books in the school's media center on Wednesday afternoon.
"I love reading because it brings me to a whole other world and makes me feel like I'm actually in the book," Harris said to a room packed with classmates, Little Rock School District and school staff, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and others gathered to kick off the "Reading in the Rock" initiative.
The program is designed to help students develop lifelong reading habits, increase access to books and engage families and the community in the process to ensure every third grader is reading at grade level. Superintendent Jermall Wright announced a partnership with the City of Little Rock on Tuesday and ushered in the new program on Wednesday.
During spring break, 14,484 books are being given out to 4,828 students throughout the district's community and priority schools to encourage the development of libraries at home.
The amount of books -- provided by global publishing company Scholastic Inc. and sent home with each student -- will likely increase to between five and 10 by summer break in May, a number that Wright said he hopes to maintain for future breaks and eventually to students at all schools.
Expanding the initiative will require an additional $350,000 over the next eight weeks, Wright said on Tuesday when he announced the plan, adding that a donation of $100,000 to the district's foundation made the purchase of the spring break books possible.
Harris, who said in an interview following his speech Wednesday that the SpongeBob books were what got him into reading, said he loves animals and books that make him laugh which made his three selections easy choices for him.
"If you don't like reading yet, maybe you just haven't found the right book," Harris told Wednesday's audience, describing each book as the portal to a "new adventure."
The SpongeBob book enthusiast said the best part about reading is that "there is always another book waiting for me, whether I am in the library, at school or at home."
After picking out his home library books, Harris said that he plans to read at least 30 minutes each day of spring break and continue branching out to read books that aren't from the SpongeBob collection, which he has reread many times.
Harris was one of dozens of kids from the academy who picked out their own books to take home on Wednesday.
For the mayor, who "didn't always like reading books" as a kid but came to love them once he discovered he was a Marvel comic book fan, expressed the importance of letting youth discover what books they enjoy reading.
Doing so, Scott said, will help students sustain reading habits and increase reading levels, enrich their vocabulary and support their mental health along with instilling "the confidence that we all need."
Noting the already existing partnership between the city and the district to create community schools -- which provide health care resources, school gardens, mental health services and more beyond the traditional school day offerings -- Scott said that the reading initiative reinforces the idea that youth "are our most precious assets."
The initiative itself not only provides benefits to students' literacy achievement outcomes, but also aids in "the eradication of entrenched poverty plaguing the city of Little Rock," Wright said.
He added that since joining the 21,000-student district in 2022, he has heard concerns about crime throughout the city, particularly involving school-aged populations.
"Did you know that over 70% of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth-grade level," Wright asked audience members on Wednesday, adding that students who do reach grade-level proficiency in reading by third grade are much more likely to be literate adults as well.
In addition to books, the students at 12 of the district's schools will take home reading and writing activities, tips for maximizing reading opportunities, a reading log and a guide for parents to learn more about how to support the initiative.
Clifton Woodley, principal at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership and Language Magnet Academy, said the initiative came at a great time as students head home for the next week and the school is looking for ways for them to "spend that time."
"We truly believe that reading is the key that unlocks every door to the knowledge, imagination and endless possibilities for our students," Woodley said.
He added that the campaign will help make "great readers" which in turn creates "great leaders."
Set to be rolled out in three phases, the initiative will start off with designated leadership teams and a consultant to introduce and begin implementing the plan, followed by foundational training for the district's teams which will allow for the development of a literacy action plan. The final phase of the initiative will include visits between those implementing the project and students, culminating with various literacy events across the city, according to a concept proposal provided by Wright during Tuesday's announcement.
Citywide aspects of the initiative might include a reading challenge spread on social media, author book talks and giveaways, family workshops, literary book club meetings, community literacy resource fairs, mentoring programs, literacy training workshops and more, even past the third phase of implementation.
Scholastic Inc. will not only provide books but also plans to support the initiative through coaching support and ensuring the project stays on track.
Harold Edwards, Scholastic's senior vice president of strategy and solution development, said the tips provided to families on Wednesday will help ensure that "all children get to see themselves in the text that they read."
He also emphasized the importance of celebrating "short-term wins" throughout a school year when it comes to literacy, instead of waiting until the end of each year to acknowledge student progress.
Others the district already partners with for its many literacy programs include AR Kids Read, Reach Out and Read, the Rotary Club of Little Rock, the Central Arkansas Library System, the Clinton Foundation, Real Ballers Read, Economics Arkansas, Little Free Library, City Year Little Rock, the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce and more.
Little Rock Communications Director Aaron Sadler said in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the city will continue its involvement in the district's social media campaign as well as meeting with other literacy organizations to "drive a collective impact model" for the initiative.
He added that the city will also help bring books to community spaces like neighborhood resource centers, community centers and other properties across Little Rock.
While not specifically stated as part of the district's strategic plan, "we know that if our students cannot read and comprehend written texts, our one dream to achieve our priority outcomes will result in recurring nightmares," Wright said as he announced the initiative Tuesday evening.
The emphasis must be on learning to read by the end of third grade, he added, saying that "this is when students begin to use reading skills to learn about the various subjects in school," including math, science and social studies.
"After third grade, the curriculum is not designed to teach kids how to read," Wright said, noting that students behind their grade-level of reading by the end of their third grade year are more likely to fall behind or drop out, leading to a higher risk of being incarcerated later on.
The literacy initiative comes on the heels of other districtwide improvements, including a new student registration system, changes to the district's security measures across all schools and operational adjustments to address deficiencies across the district's finance and human resources departments as well as leadership recruitment and staffing efforts.
Over the last year, the district has received over $52 million in federal, state and local grants, including $18 million in federal funding to replace diesel school buses with electric ones.
The "Reading in the Rock" initiative joins a slew of other resources the district has provided to its students over the last two years, many of which have helped close literacy gaps for kindergarteners and first graders, as well as increasing the percentage of third through fifth grade students meeting or exceeding grade level standards in both math and reading -- based on state assessments last school year -- according to Wright.
For the first time in over a decade, the district was also removed from state monitoring in January due to progress made by students in the lowest performing quartile on the 2024 state assessments, Wright said.
Arkansas students currently take the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System, or ATLAS, exam at the end of each school year, with some districts -- such as the Little Rock School District -- participating in interim tests throughout the year.