Turn The Page STL
By: David M. Foster, CFP®, CAP®
Hello, listeners, and welcome to the 12th episode of the Gateway Giving Podcast!
I’m sure it won’t be surprising to anyone listening to this that illiteracy is a significant predictor of all kinds of bad life outcomes. Specifically, children who can’t read proficiently by 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out before acquiring their high school diploma. Why is 3rd grade the relevant line of demarcation? Because that’s when schools generally stop teaching kids to read, and, instead, expect them to read to learn. As with many things, this problem is particularly acute in the St. Louis area, and you probably won’t be shocked to learn that there is a significant racial disparity in reading proficiency.
My guest today is hoping to organize our region’s many institutions to tackle this problem head on. Lisa Greening is the Project Director for Turn The Page STL, a city-county wide literacy initiative dedicated to increasing the number of children that are reading at or above grade level by the end third grade in the St. Louis community. Lisa was formerly the executive director of Ready Readers, and while her organization was having an impact on the kids they worked with, she could see that the region continued to fall behind despite her efforts there. So, about two year ago she set out to form Turn The Page STL based partly on the model that Turn The Page Kansas City established where they were able to raise 3rd grade reading proficiency from about 30% to about 50% in only 7 years!
As always, if you have any questions, requests, or suggestions for people or organizations for me to interview, you can email me at david@gatewaywealthstl.com. Now, without further ado, here is my interview with Lisa Greening!
Lisa Greening and Turn The Page STL are not affiliated with or endorsed by LPL Financial, Gateway Wealth Management, or Cornerstone Wealth Management.
Links
- Turn The Page STL Homepage
- Strategic Plan
- National Campaign For Grade Level Reading
- Turn The Page KC
- YouthBridge Blog Post
- Facebook Page
- Twitter Page
- Lisa's LinkedIn
- How 3rd Grade Reading Skills & Poverty Influence High School Graduation
Hi, I'm David Foster! I am the host of this podcast, and I am also the founder of Gateway Wealth Management, LLC. I hope you found something valuable in what you just heard/read. If you'd like to read more about me, click here. If you'd like to read more about my firm, click here. Thank you for listening!
Contact