Right2Read Philly campaign reaches 100,000 families this summer

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The Right2Read Philly summer campaign, which uses creative ways to teach reading at an early age, reached 100,000 families this summer.

The milestone was celebrated with an Aug. 29 event at Franklin Square that featured a book giveaway, a sing-along and double Dutch jump rope. The campaign is funded by the William Penn Foundation and spearheaded by Mighty Engine, a Philadelphia-based creative agency that advances community causes.

The campaign also introduces students and their families to a form of sign language organizers call “simple signs,” as well as the Freedom Schools’ “Alphabet Song,” which emphasizes the sounds of each letter in the alphabet.

Heseung Song, Mighty Engine founder and CEO, said the campaign was co-created by Philadelphia families and guided by an advisory council of literacy advocates, such as Sharif El-Mekki, CEO at the Center for Black Educator Development, and Sara Nović, a best-selling author and deaf rights activist. The Freedom Schools Literacy Academy is part of the Center for Black Educator Development.

“What makes this campaign different is that we were able to tap the systematically undervalued strategies to grow strong leaders,” Song said. “Kids are trying to connect with us before they have the muscularity to vocalize certain words.”

At the event, Nović’s latest novel, “True Biz” — about a school for deaf students that is on the New York Times Best Seller list and was chosen as the 2024 One Book, One Philadelphia featured reading selection — was handed out for free, along with several other diverse books for children.

About 50 people, including staff, supporters and students from the Early Stages Learning Center in Southwest Philadelphia, attended the event.

El-Mekki, whose group seeks to build a Black teacher pipeline to help solve the teacher shortage in Philadelphia, also sits on the advisory council of Read2Read Philly.

“My role is to connect the dots between proven, but unvalued, techniques that the Black community has used to educate their children, as well as others,” El-Mekki said. “As a father, 26-year veteran teacher and principal in the Philadelphia schools, I was also a recipient of the education that was poured into me by the Freedom Schools.”

At Franklin Square, oversized displays of dragons, animals and models of Chinese architecture and culture could be seen — as part of the Chinese Lantern Festival, which ended in August.

According to Song, not all students learn the same, and the campaign uses fun activities like sing-alongs and to generate interest in reading.

“Like all parents, my husband and I want to see our children excel in school,” said Megan Beck, a reading coach in the campaign.