The Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) brought in more than $30,000 at its recent Love of Literacy Luncheon, which was designed to highlight the need the neet to support students struggling with reading in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.
Funds raised during the event at Elings Park’s Godric Grove will be used to train Santa Barbara Unified teachers in methods to identify and more effectively teach students who are struggling with reading; those who are emergent multilingual learners; and students with disabilities, including those displaying characteristics of dyslexia.
Santa Barbara Unified School Board Trustee Wendy Sims-Moten served as the event’s emcee, which featured speakers who highlighted literacy efforts in local classrooms and talked about their own literacy journeys.
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Gregg Hart offered his perspective on the importance of literacy as a son of an elementary school teacher and a librarian. Acknowledging that not all students have the same opportunities, he said, “We need to have a system that embraces everybody and their learning needs.”
Superintendent Hilda Maldonado compared the district’s approach to staff development in literacy to giving teachers options or road maps to help students reach the ultimate goal of meeting standards.
“We want teachers that understand that they are all teachers of academic language and literacy and that they continue to affirm the unique gifts every student brings to school while building their capacity to become a more proficient reader,” said Maldonado.
Santa Barbara High School student Eva Zackrison shared her story of making gains in her reading skills under the challenging circumstances of remote learning and a post-covid return to the classroom.
“I feel more comfortable and confident with my words per minute going up,” Zackrison said. “I started seventh grade with 30 words per minute and ended tenth grade with 140 words. Thank you, Santa Barbara Unified School District, for making this possible.”
Zackrison’s story was met with a standing ovation from those in attendance.
SBEF thanks Love of Literacy Luncheon sponsors, including Pillar Sponsor: Montecito Bank & Trust; Ambassador Sponsors: Chevron, Jersey Mike’s, McGillivray Construction, and Tisha Ford; Champion Sponsors: 19six Architects, Arroyo Seco Construction, Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, Cottage Health, First 5 Santa Barbara County, KBZ Architects, Lazy Acres, Montecito Journal, Mosher Foundation, and Santa Barbara City College Foundation, with support from San Marcos High School Culinary Arts Program.
Santa Barbara Education Foundation promotes private support of Santa Barbara’s public education system, serving 12,000 students in 18 schools. For more information, visit www.santabarbaraeducation.org.