This Week: Niagara Falls To Host Film Screening of "Left Behind"
Event Will be Hosted by Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M. Restaino, Niagara Falls Public Library, & Parent Network of WNY as Part of the WNY Literacy Initiative
Coming up this Wednesday, June 4th, we will have our last event of the 2024-25 school year: register here, you do not want to miss this!
Press Release: The WNY Education Alliance is pleased to announce that Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M. Restaino, the Niagara Falls Public Library, the Parent Network of WNY, and the other partners in the WNY Literacy Initiative will be hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary, Left Behind, on Wednesday, June 4 from 5:30-8:00pm at the Niagara Falls Public Library on 1425 Main Street in Niagara Falls, NY.
Left Behind tells the story of a group of mothers determined to open New York City’s first public school for dyslexic students. More information about the documentary, including the trailer, can be found at www.leftbehindthefilm.com. This will be the first screening of the film in Western New York.
Immediately following the screening, there will be a panel discussion with the director of the film, Anna Toomey, as well as leaders of the Literacy Academy Collective, Emily Hellstrom and Naomi Peña, whose efforts are featured in the documentary. Niagara Falls parent advocate Jackie Blaber will moderate this discussion.
(Side note: The Literacy Academy Collective facilitated a state-wide conversation this past year through Hunt Institute's The Path Forward with the aim of transforming early literacy instruction in New York State. The NYS Path Forward team met regularly to develop the Action Plan. The plan focuses on the role that Educator Prep Programs play in ensuring teacher candidates graduate with the knowledge and skills to teach reading using Science of Reading. You can read more here.)
Members of the Niagara Falls community and WNY region, educators, and the media are all invited to attend the film screening for free by registering using this link here.
The full press release can be found here.
“70 Years After Brown v. Board of Education: Bridging the Literacy Gap” hosted by the Nassau County Bar Association
We were honored to present on a panel to the Nassau County Bar Association about literacy in New York State, the persistent achievement gaps, and whether students who have been failed can achieve justice. This in-person event, which was free and open to the public, took place last Thursday 5/29.
We commend the Nassau County Bar Association for examining this critical issue from a variety of perspectives, and for asking themselves what role they can play in addressing the literacy crisis. If you are a member of a Bar Association that would be interested in hosting a similar event, please let me know: tarja@wnyeducationalliance.org.
What We’re Reading & Listening To
“Breaking the Cycle: Rethinking School Suspensions in Buffalo” - WBFO’s What’s Next? podcast with Samuel Radford III, Aymanuel Radford, and Prof. Kim Diana Connolly to talk about the urgent need for change in Buffalo’s school suspension system.
Attention Parents & Teachers - From Jason Yeatman, Associate Professor of Education, Pediatrics, and Psychology Stanford University:
“Today is our official release of ROAR@Home BETA - our family-facing portal to sign up for research studies and receive ROAR assessment results! Our vision is to democratize access to high-quality, research-backed assessments, and to provide parents a window into their children's reading development. Learn more about your child's reading skills and receive score reports from this validated reading assessment. It is an early beta release so please submit an issue if you encounter any challenges. Follow current developments or sign up at: https://roar.stanford.edu/homesignup/
“Read To Succeed Comes To Falls” - Niagara Express
“One-on-one individualized literacy tutoring from a highly trained, committed and supported older adult is exactly what will help some of our students achieve grade-level proficiency in reading,” said Niagara Falls City Schools superintendent Mark Laurrie. “Achieving literacy skills at a young age builds the foundation for future success, and we are very excited to get this results-driven initiative started in our schools.”
Have a great week - I hope to see you on Wednesday at the Niagara Falls Public Library! Don’t forget to register here.
Tarja