From shy to confident: The power of a literacy partnership between Dawes CLC and UNL

December 16, 2024

University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior Katie Wall watched with pride as a Dawes Middle School student spelled words with the sounds of ‘th,’ ‘ch’ and ‘sh’ in front of her.
 
Her literacy lesson at the Kit and Dick Schmoker Reading Center was a prime example of how a partnership between Dawes and UNL is setting up students for long-term success.
 
Leaders of the Dawes Community Learning Centers (CLC) program have teamed up with the Schmoker Reading Center (SRC) to provide extra literacy pillars for students. The partnership, which is in its second year, provides scholarships for Dawes students to travel to UNL’s East Campus twice each week. Six students took part in the program last year and three are being helped this year.

 
Jen Lesoing is a literacy coach and interventionist at Dawes and has spent time helping students at the SRC facility. She said the alliance has benefited everyone in many ways.
 
“I’m thrilled to see these students who put in extra work to improve their literacy skills be acknowledged,” Lesoing said. “The Kit and Dick Schmoker Reading Center has been a great partner for Dawes and a wonderful resource for students who need additional literacy support.”

 
Corben Jacobe said all three Diamondbacks who are attending SRC lessons this semester have blossomed academically, socially and emotionally. Jacobe is the school community coordinator for Dawes’ CLC program, which meets every day after school. He has watched them choose to join CLC activities such as vocal music and gardening because of their increased confidence.
 
“In CLC, they’ve just been livelier,” Jacobe said. “I wouldn’t say they were anti-social before, but they were definitely shyer, and they’ve fully come out of their shells because of this. It’s been really awesome to see that ever since that first day, they’re a brand-new kid. They’re more confident, more energetic, happier to be here.”
 
One of the Dawes students is completing her third semester with the SRC program. She said fellow Diamondbacks struggling with reading should not be afraid to ask for help with their literacy skills.
 
“Yes, you should go,” she said. “It can help you read and learn some more stuff.”

 
Wall and fellow SRC tutor Kathryn Boilesen said it has been inspiring to watch their Dawes students learn more about letters and sounds this semester. Wall is majoring in elementary education at UNL and Boilesen, a junior, is majoring in secondary special education.
 
“You see them day by day making little successes, and then you measure it at the end, and you see that, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve seen a lot of successes,’” Boilesen said. “It’s very exciting.”
 
“There’s been a lot of progress,” Wall said. “We started with different assessments at the beginning of the year, and since then there’s been a lot of improvement. It’s really cool to see.”
 
Emily Fisher is co-director of the SRC and leads classes in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education at UNL. The former Dawes instructor said she has watched the program make noticeable impacts on both middle school and college students.
 
“One of the most magical parts about this program and this partnership is that I get to see the kids improve and I get to see the tutors improve, and the tutors realize that their students are improving because of the work that they have done, and that’s a really magical thing to see,” Fisher said.
 
“We’re teaching them, but they’re also teaching us how to become better teachers and how to get that specific information to them,” Wall said.

 
SRC tutors use multiple strategies to connect with students from across Lincoln in grades K-12. Wall spent time one afternoon asking her Dawes partner to spell words by writing them with frosting in a pan, and another Dawes student wrote words with red, green and yellow paint for her tutor. Boilesen has helped her Diamondback learn to read this semester with tools such as phonetic spelling sheets and popular children’s books.
 
Fisher said those activities help students decode a difficult language. For example, the sound of a long ‘a’ in English could be spelled with a-consonant-e, ai, ay, eigh or ey.
 
“We can give them the extra practice they need on different skills and patterns and concepts in a lot of different ways,” Fisher said. “We can provide them with even more scaffolds.”
 
Lesoing said the partnership aligns with the 2024-29 Lincoln Public Schools Strategic Plan in many ways. Students who become proficient in reading and writing are more likely to graduate, join school activities and expand their future career opportunities. The alliance also promotes family and community engagement throughout LPS, which strengthens students in all classrooms.
 
“Once they build that confidence in their reading, we see such a difference,” Lesoing said. “They want to be a part of class. They want to learn.”

 
Boilesen said her goal with the tutoring sessions is to help her Diamondback enjoy a successful reading future. She wants her literacy lessons to start a ripple effect that spreads in the coming weeks, months and years.
 
“Even if it’s just one reminder in class if they’re reading something and it’s like, ‘Oh, I did this at the reading center and I can apply it here,’ that would be my hope,” Boilesen said.

To learn more about our Lincoln Community Learning Centers, visit our website at https://clc.lps.org/.
 
Do you have a story idea? Share it with the LPS Communications Team by filling out this form!

---