YAKIMA, Wash. — Boosting school readiness may seem daunting in a county challenged by poverty, language barriers and lower education levels. But Circle of Success’s Nancy Leahy is already seeing the positive impact of the Motheread/Fatheread Washington early literacy program.

So far, 173 parents have been through the Motheread/Fatheread course, which is being conducted by the Circle of Success program for parents in Yakima, thanks to a $150,000 grant from the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning’s Pacific Power Fund. The grant helped fund the training of 15 teachers last May, who are now leading 14 early literacy classes – nearly half in Spanish. Circle of Success is a nonprofit in Yakima County that works to improve the school readiness of their preschool children.

“Yakima is a troubled county because a recent survey showed we have double the unemployment rate of the rest of the state, double the numbers of schoolchildren on free or reduced lunch, double the families below the poverty line, and almost four times the number of high school dropouts,” explained Leahy, Circle of Success executive director.

“So what do we do? Making sure that kids are starting school ready to learn is a huge step in the right direction,” she said.

Motheread/Fatheread trains parents to be their children’s first and most important teacher. Parents gain confidence to read with their children daily – which is proven to lead to a child’s success in school.

“Studies have shown that children who are not proficient readers by the end of 3rd grade perform poorly in other subjects and have difficulties throughout the course of their schooling,” said Isaac Regenstreif, executive director of the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning, the charitable arm of Pacific Power. “Therefore we identified school readiness as an important emphasis, and we have invested more than $1 million in the past three years to boost early literacy programs in six states.”

“Kindergarten teachers all over the state find that almost half of the children are not ready to be in school when they arrive at age five,” said Lydia Bassett, program director of Motheread/Fatheread Washington. “Therefore, this investment in the development of young children’s minds is critical.”

Motheread/Fatheread curriculum is comprised of multicultural, award-winning children’s literature, featuring 129 titles – many are available in Spanish, bilingual, and other-languages.

Clark Satre, Pacific Power's regional manager who is also the board chair of the Yakima County Development Association, expects this program to pay long-term dividends for all of Yakima County.  “Children who are better able to read today will be better able to enter the work force fifteen years from now,” he said.

Classes run through Circle of Success have taken place at Heritage University, Salvation Army Transitional Housing in Sunnyside, PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) groups at Wesley Methodist Church, in Yakima, Reil House Treatment Center, Marie Rose House in Wapato (parents of Head Start children), and at the YWCA in Yakima.
 
Families who participate in the Circle of Success program are largely between 20 and 29 years of age, and 89 percent receive public subsidy support from various sources.

“One group has two professors in it,” Leahy said. “While the dads are very adept at reading textbooks, they struggle finding the right style to read to their young kids. With a little practice, they’ve learned how to ham it up a little, and make the stories come alive for their kids.”

Media inquiries:newsdesk@pacificorp.com