PHILADELPHIA – This Saturday, March 11, from 9:00am-12:00pm (library ribbon cutting at 10:00am), parents and students will participate in a community event at Southwark (1835 South 9^th Street) designed to help parents learn more about the importance of literacy and early childhood education. The event will include a keynote address from Dr. Jose Medina from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a panel discussion about literacy and education with Otis Hackney, the City of Philadelphia’s Chief Education Officer, as well as Southwark’s  2^nd grade dual language teacher Jayleen Medina, ESOL Coordinator Shelley Ruderman, Carolene Lescano from Children’s Literacy Initiative and READ By 4TH’s Executive Director, Jenny Bogoni.

Southwark School in South Philadelphia is a City of Philadelphia designated community school funded by the Philadelphia Beverage Tax.

“We have a great community of families at Southwark and we wanted to offer parents more opportunities to develop their knowledge about literacy and learn how to help foster their kids’ excitement about reading and school,” noted Southwark’s Principal Andrew Lukov. “Events like these build community and support for the school, making us a space not just for student learning, but for parent involvement and education as well.”

After the keynote and panel discussion, there will be eight parent-centered workshops, covering topics such as Understanding Your Child’s Reading Level, Parent & Family Engagement Tips, Bilingual Literacy, Immigrant Families and Literacy, and more. Translation services and childcare will be available on site.

In addition to the literacy programming, Southwark is celebrating the re-opening of the school’s library, which, due to budget cuts, has been dormant and un-used by the students for several years. A couple of years ago, EPX Civic-Friends of Southwark stepped in and took over the re-organization and cataloging of the library’s existing resources, as well as soliciting new donations of specific books at all levels. After the official ribbon cutting, Southwark parent and Library Project Leader, Kristen Shahverdian, will lead an informational workshop on how to use the library now that it will be open to students and families.

“We wanted to offer the best options for literary resources here at Southwark, so, obviously we needed a functioning library,” remarks Kristen. “Over the past year, we have done a tremendous amount of work cataloging and organizing the books, and recruiting and training the volunteer staff to run a successful library moving forward. We’re thrilled to be having our ribbon cutting during the Literacy Town Hall this Saturday.”

About Southwark School: Southwark School is a K-8 public school in the East Passyunk section of South Philadelphia with a school community as diverse as the neighborhood we serve. Southwark’s mission is to develop leadership skills in our students and educate them so they are on grade-level and beyond in reading, writing, and mathematics in a safe, clean, and caring environment through the support of staff, parents, and community.

About EPX Civic-Friends of Southwark: Friends of Southwark is a group of parents and community members from the East Passyunk Crossing Civic Association (EPX) Education Committee focused on providing support to Southwark School.  Current priorities include supporting the library re-opening and ongoing library programming and promoting school yard redesign and renovations.

EPX Civic-Friends of Southwark (FoS) believes that every student has the right to attend a well-funded, diverse public school in his or her neighborhood. To that end, FoS works to support the efforts of the teachers and administration of the school, helping to build resources and highlighting and celebrating the wonderful things happening at this diverse and innovative school internally, and to the community at large.

Schedule of Events

9:00 – 9:20 am: Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jose Medina, Center for Applied Linguistics

9:20 – 10:10 am: Panel Discussion

• Otis Hackney, Chief Education Officer for the City of Philadelphia
• Carolena Lescano, Early Literacy Specialist for Children’s Literacy Initiative
• Jayleen Medina, Bilingual Teacher (2^nd Grade) at Southwark School
• Shelley Ruderman, ESOL Coordinator at Southwark School
• Jenny Bogoni, Executive Director of READ! By 4^th Campaign

10:00 – 11:00 am: Library Ribbon Cutting

10:05 – 11:00 am: Parent and Family Workshops

• Parent and Family Engagement as an Integral Part of Literacy Development, presented by Dr. Jose Medina
• Understanding Your Child’s Reading Level, presented by Carolena Lescano and Shelley Ruderman
• The Importance of High Quality Pre-K and its Relation to Literacy, presented by Shawn Towey, PCCY Child Care Policy Coordinator
• Bilingual Literacy, presented by Jayleen Medina, 2nd Grade Dual Language Teacher
• Family Literacy: Emerging Readers, Emerging Families, presented by Mary Wilson and Meghan Agnew, Center for Literacy
• Getting to Know The Free Library of Philadelphia, presented by Liz Kenney & Liz Gardner, The Philadelphia Free Library
• Literacy Strategies for Parents and Caregivers For Grades K-4, presented by Julie McMeans, Philadelphia Out of School Time Literacy Initiative
• Immigrant Families and Literacy presented by Ludy Soderman, Director Multilingual Family Support Office with The School District of Philadelphia

11:05 – 12:00 pm: Repeat of the Workshops Above, and:

• How to Use the New Southwark Library: An Introduction presented by Kristen Shahverdian, Library Project Leader, EPX Civic-Friends of Southwark