English Language Fellow Don Johnson and Cultural Affairs Officer Kate Arcieri recently received an innovation grant to serve local education needs in Côte d’Ivoire. The grant was used to fund The Reading Empowers and Develops Ivory Coast (READ-IC) project.
The project targeted more than 2000 participants for access to English language books. Johnson supplied seven local high schools with reading books and trained teachers in how to perform reading assessments. Trained mentors and teachers at each school helped readers progress through assessed levels of readership.
In the next school year, the program will be opened for the entire school population, now with more than 300 experienced leveled readers at each location. Approximately 35,000 students will have an opportunity to read English at an appropriate level with help from their experienced peers.
You can learn more about the project and Johnson’s fellowship here.