Free Worcester’s/Future Leaders/ Social Justice Literacy Initiative
Through social justice and civic education, we encourage literacy and build confidence. From a child’s perspective, sometimes it’s hard to understand why things work out a certain way. We want all children to know that their voices count and matter! Our highly interactive approach uses books and art to present complex social issues. We actively encourage children to ask questions that challenge the dominant narrative so children take an active role in their learning. We aim to remove the stigma often associated with issues they don’t understand but impact them, fostering a sense of curiosity and engagement. Combining Social justice and literacy: Our approach is deeply rooted in the belief that practical solutions are born when communities unite to confront challenges tailored to their unique circumstances. We see the destigmatizing of social issues as a collective effort facilitated by books, community conversations, resources to bring home and share, and the shared goal of building community through knowledge. We distribute hundreds of books at schools and community events and regularly attend food distributions, other assistance programs, and Free Worcester Social Justice Literacy events. We also engage caretakers by discussing the invaluable impact of reading with their child for 15 minutes every day. Combining Social justice and literacy we are actively contributing to building a culture of reading focused on underserved neighborhoods and school-age children, fostering youth activism. Our babies are already thinking about what’s happening around them. However, without the noesis of books or impartial conversations in the community with other children, the issues become stigmatized, embarrassing, or taboo and lead to bias. Instead, we teach to encourage tolerance. Today Readers are Future Leaders Goals · Community outreach Developing trust and networks through information sharing. · Thwart the school-to-prison pipeline and the urban achievement gap by helping children become confident, informed readers. · Teach a child to educate a community. · Children will bring home books with stories they relate to, encouraging whole-family discussions about local and global issues. · Easy-to-read books brought to community protests, vigils, and adult-themed events. · Every child will have a template to write letters to elected officials. · Create art based on books to encourage creativity · Prevent the Summer Slide · Survey and collect data · Ask parents what they want their children to Know. · Literacy through a social justice youth activism lens. One or two topics per six-week module. · Food Insecurity · LGBTQ+ · Environment · Homelessness · Disability · Diversity · Civic Engagement · Bullying · Foster care · Immigration Free Worcester Future Leaders Celebrates · Earth Day · Latin Heritage · Black History · Elections
Worcester Anti-Violence Rally Announcement
In response to the recent wave of youth violence across the community Free Worcester is announcing a youth-led anti-violence rally dedicated to promoting peace, unity, and solidarity in our city for July 12th.