Background

The Berkeley United In Literacy Development (BUILD) Program is a student-led program that believes in educational equity. We are one of the largest reading programs in the East Bay with 325 Cal student mentors providing one-to-one literacy support to 1,000 students who are reading below grade level. The majority of the students we serve are of low socioeconomic status from 20 after school locations in Oakland and Berkeley. School literacy coaches and community partners provide trainings for our reading mentors to equip them with adequate tools to serve our students’ literacy needs. Each mentor works individually with 3 students in 30-45 minute sessions at least twice a week. They work with the same students for at least one semester, and sometimes for years, building strong relationships with one another.

Project

During the summer, students, especially those from low-income families, are likely to fall behind their peers and lose skills in reading because there is no academic instruction during this time. BUILD wants to provide the students with a gift that will keep them engaged in literacy. BUILD staff work diligently during the academic year to support students’ literacy needs by providing individualized support with feedback from literacy coaches and teachers. In order to work and continue to develop our student’s literacy skills, BUILD wants to provide the 1,000 students we serve with a book to take home and read for the summer.

Goal

We are raising $5,000 to buy and give each of our 1,000 students a book to take home and read this summer. At the end of each school year, BUILD holds a Reading Awards ceremony to commemorate the students for all their hard work. In order to make this year’s ceremony extra special, we hope to give them their free book at this event.

How You Can Help

With your support we hope to raise the $5,000 needed to ensure that all 1,000 students we work with are given a book to read after the school year ends. Your gift to BUILD will not only bring our students the joy and excitement that comes with receiving a gift but also a chance to continue their learning during the summer break. We believe it is important for each student to continue to read and learn during the summer to prevent the effects of the “summer slide” from occurring, where students lose some of the achievement gains made during the school year and begin to fall behind.

Please consider making a gift today and sharing our project with friends and family you think might support our cause! Gifts of any size will make a tremendous impact in our students’ lives and our goal of getting them their books. For every $25 we raise, 5 of our students will get a book! If we raise $1,000, we’ll be able to give 200 students a book to read for the summer.

                                                           Thank you, from the 2016-2017 BUILD Team!