Pekin Alliance for Literacy Success will officially launch its campaign on July 6th at the Pekin Park Foundation’s Bicentennial Bash. Formed in January of this year, the group began meeting at the Pekin Public Library to discuss the status of literacy and kindergarten readiness in the community and to form an action plan to support students, parents, and the schools’ efforts to improve literacy achievement. 

Current partnering organizations include Pekin School District 108, Rankin School District 98, South Pekin School District 137, Pekin Public Library, Pekin Housing Authority, Pekin Police Department, Pekin Park District, Tazewell County Health Department, YWCA Pekin, Pekin Outreach Initiative, and the Pekin Chamber of Commerce.  

United in raising grade-level reading achievement, the alliance of partners recognized early on that reading success by the third grade depends very much on the student’s early childhood health, exposure to books, opportunities to become well prepared to learn by the first day of kindergarten, and the family’s habits in prioritizing school attendance. 

As such, the goals for the first phase of their action plan focus on school readiness, school attendance, after-school and summer literacy programs, and the importance of getting books into homes and family reading time. 

More information will be available through the Pekin Alliance for Literacy Success website at www.pekinliteracy.org