2023 Agency Literacy Award

inspiREading - The West Shore ESD {Mason, Lake, and Oceana counties, MI

inspiREading “Growing a community rooted in literacy.”

When rural counties come together to develop programs for everyone in the county like the

West Shore ESD did great things happen. “Children are never too young to be inspired by

their families, schools, and communities to grow a passion for reading.” Out of this

statement grew the award-winning program InspiREading. The West Shore ESD which

includes Mason, Lake, and Oceana Counties worked together to develop inspiREading

strategy cards which highlight five literacy goal areas for parents, caregivers, community

organizations, schools, and children to improve literacy. These cards cover phonological

awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Included is a video to help

parents and others guide the child. These videos are broken down into Birth – Age 3, Pre-K,

K-1st Grade, 2 nd-3rd , and 4th-5th grades. These educational cards created by the West Shore ESD

can be downloaded without modifying content. Visit their website at greatstartmlo.org.

Michigan Reading Association is honored to present West Shore ESD the Literacy Award for

an Agency to recipient this year.

2015 Agency Literacy Award

Michigan English Language Arts (MiELA) Network

The Michigan English Language Arts (MiELA) Network was founded by a consortium of ISD consultants with the mission of addressing the rigorous instructional demands of the Michigan Standards. Each summer, the MiELA Network has invited every district within Michigan, and several beyond our state’s borders, to send K-12 teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators to engage in professional learning opportunities. The Summer Institute 2014 had over 1500 participants. One person stated, “My attendance at both summer institutes furthered my understanding of the MAISA units and introduced better instructional practices to use in my classroom.” The MiELA Network facilitators provided teachers with the tools and strategies to be successful in implementing the Michigan Standards.

2013 Agency Literacy Award

Taylor Reading Corp, Taylor, Michigan

Judge Geno Salomone, a life-long Taylor resident, had been concerned about literacy in his hometown and surrounding area for years based on observing the number of adults in his courtroom who would be considered functionally illiterate at best. In the summer of 2011 the judge brought together a team of eleven community members to form a volunteer literacy tutoring group and the Taylor Reading Corp came into existence. The non-profit organization, by unanimous acclamation of the Board of Education works with, but is not part of the Taylor Public Schools. The goal of this group is to make Taylor, “the city of readers in Southeast Michigan” which is well under way. They are supported by grants, monetary donations, in-kind donations and hundreds of hours of volunteer time. There are two hundred volunteers that work with at-risk pre-k, kindergarteners and first grade students in eight elementary buildings. As the president of PNC Financial Services Group stated, “The beauty of TRC is its volunteerism.” Business leaders, parents, teachers and administrators are all represented in the Corp. This program in not only good for kids, and the advancement of literacy, it is also good for the community.