SALT LAKE CITY — The most sustainable way to grow an education program is to train others how to teach it. This year, Pippa Keene, director of the family literacy program Motheread/Fatheread, trained 78 new facilitators to help build reading and parenting skills throughout Utah.

“These new facilitators will expand the program’s impact by another 1,560 children and 600 families,” said Keane. “We also handed out nearly 2,000 books to get the facilitators started in teaching the program.”

Motheread/Fatheread builds parenting, critical thinking and literacy skills, improves family communication, and promotes reading and story sharing in the home. Funding by the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning has given the program the resources needed to grow. The foundation is in the second of a three-year, $1 million investment in early childhood literacy in areas served by Utah Power and Pacific Power.

“Motheread/Fatheread is unique because it works with both adults and children, and its value lies in the fact that it raises early childhood literacy levels,” Keene said. “By reading and discussing multicultural children's books, parents are encouraged to use their imaginations to connect universal themes, values, and ideas to their own lives and families.”

Motheread/Fatheread works with families of at-risk children through Head Start and Even Start programs. The program also added 40 staffers to work with parents of newborns and infants, and it has expanded its Storysharing program.

“One of the most powerful stories about the program’s success came during a recent radio interview,” Keene said. “Heather, a mother in an Even Start program, called in and said that her three-year-old son, Nathan, was speech delayed and used his own made-up language. After Heather took Motheread/Fatheread classes, she brought the books home and read them with her son. Nathan bonded with the books, read them over and over, and now he talks.”

Heather said, “I am really happy with this program. It has made me stronger as a mom, being able to communicate with him, made my other son closer to him, and made my husband closer to all of us as a family.”

Another success story came from the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah. One woman said she wanted to take Motheread/Fatheread classes in prison so that, when she was released, she could use story sharing and reading to her children as a way to reintroduce herself into their lives. She also hoped to help regain her children’s love and trust, and find better ways to communicate with her husband.

The program’s geographic reach also has broadened: now 28 of Utah’s 29 counties offer Motheread/Fatheread, an increase of nine counties from last year.

“One of the best ways to guarantee a vibrant future for our communities is to support quality education programs like Motheread/Fatheread,” said Gina Crezee, regional community manager for Utah Power.

Foundation-funded literacy programs are now impacting 3,000 children across Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.

About Motheread/Fatheread

Based on an award-winning program developed in North Carolina, the program is unique for its target on both adults and children in raising early childhood literacy levels. Motheread/Fatheread was piloted with several Even Start programs in Utah through the Utah Humanities Council with great success. The Utah Humanities Council administers the program.

About the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning

The PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning is one of the largest utility endowments in the U.S., valued at $37.4 million. It has awarded 6,235 grants totaling more than $36.9 million to communities served by Utah Power and Pacific Power. The Foundation is in the second year of a three-year, $1 million investment helping more than 5,000 children with early childhood literacy.