Pennies for Paperbacks

Lift For Life Academy is working to increase student literacy by making books more accessible to our students. In the past 3 years, we have added more than 3,000 books to our classrooms at Lift For Life. However, providing books for students to read outside of school in their free time makes a real difference to children’s achievement – those who own books are six times more likely to read above the level expected for their age.

 

 

Through our efforts, literacy rates at Lift for Life have started to improve over time. For example, the school was recognized last year by St. Louis University's Policy Research in Missouri Education (PRiME) Center as one of Missouri's top high-poverty middle schools in helping students make significant progress in English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency. Still, more than half of the school's 6th graders and a third of its 7th graders tested below grade level on Missouri's statewide ELA exam in 2022, a key measure of literacy.Our new campaign, Pennies for Paperbacks, will allow LFLA to purchase and distribute books to students in grades K-12. The school has several literacy initiatives to increase students' interest in reading, including a dedicated reading time at the start of each school day. Having a greater variety of titles at various reading levels will provide books that interest students in reading.