Katelynd Todd isn’t your average college senior. She’s also the founder of Empower Literacy, Inc., a hands-on agency with the goal of ending illiteracy, one community at a time.
Todd got the idea of literacy from her grandpa’s agency. Her grandfather and mentor, Pastor Terry Lane, founded MetroKids Konnection, an inner-city nonprofit that gives hope and direction to children who live in the most violent neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida—the Cleveland Arms Apartments. She observed how volunteers came in and read to these kids on-on-one, and how the kids read to them in the Saturday High Achiever’s program.
It all had a powerful impact on her, so powerful that she states her agency is very similar to what her grandfather does. “My grandpa played a big part. There’s no one else in Jacksonville who I trust more with my curriculum than him. I call him all the time for advice.”
And like her grandpa, Todd isn’t one to just talk; she puts actions to her words. After she created Empower Literacy, she launched it in Gainesville, Florida, followed by Tallahassee. In October 2015, Todd is bringing her program to MetroKids in Jacksonville, and dubbing it Curriculum Chaos.
Todd said, “My grandpa had the idea and the building, so we met in the middle to bring in my program.”
Lane wanted his granddaughter to incorporate fun things, like games, in her program so that the kids don’t feel overwhelmed while they are learning. So she went to work creating a curriculum that includes fun project-based activities, like games, while teaching the kids vocabulary and parts of speech and conducting a read-a-thon. Similar to the other cities, she’ll bring books to their library and snacks for the kids.
Todd said, “With Curriculum Chaos, traditional learning goes out the door on the north side of Jacksonville … . We take Duval County School’s curriculum, reading coaching skills, and then throw in a splash of chaos to rebrand the idea of learning. Project-based education fulfills the needs of inner-city students to engage them.”
And like her grandpa, Todd isn’t happy limiting what she can offer kids. Since girls constitute about 60 percent of those who are illiterate, Todd has created a campaign called Girls Read with its launch at Jacksonville’s MetroKids in October 2015. With Miss Jacksonville USA in attendance and chances to receive prizes, this event would get the attention of most girls. The prizes aren’t restricted to girls at MetroKids, though. Regardless of socio-economic status or location, anyone in the United States can register a girl or woman to get a prize package of books based on the reader’s interest. Todd is very excited about it.
She said, “Thirty-two million adults in the U.S. can’t read, and twenty-one percent read under a fifth-grade level. We’re trying to combat these statistics through project-based education and resource mobilization.”
As a fulltime college student, Todd doesn’t get as much time to put into her agency as she would like. Still, she states that they are at a really good place. It’s one of transition, especially since partnering with MetroKids Konnection and the United Way. This takes them to the next level in terms of what they’re about and what they’re about to reach. Whereas Gainesville is very mobile and travels to several places, Jacksonville’s MetroKids has a lot of potential because it has the space and the students.
As much as Todd has accomplished, she refuses to stop and rest on her laurels. She intends to take Empower Literacy to new places that have new needs.
“The more I invest myself and other people in literacy, I find more needs,” she said. “We must be grounded in these places in order to take them to self-sufficiency. I want reading to become part of their lives and their educational system.”
She needs your help, though. With illiteracy’s staggering statistics, it would behoove everyone to engage in this organization. To learn more about Empower Literacy, you can visit their website at www.empowerliteracy.org. If you’re interested in volunteering or creating a program and opportunity, the website is the best way to contact Todd. A donation of money would obviously be welcomed and can be done by emailing Todd at GainesvilleReads@gmail.com.
When you become a part of this hand-on agency, you become part of saving the world through literacy.