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Springfield Parks & Recreation Take the Lectio Approach toward Literacy
February 16, 2021
With nineteen parks, thirteen pools, two public golf courses, and an ice arena, the city of Springfield offers an array of opportunities for recreation and enjoyment to the public. The Parks and Recreation department provides these activities with the aim of engaging social interaction, fitness goals, and cognitive development.
While dedicated to the physical activity and development within the community through these activities and programs, the department also pursues academic enhancement. The Recreation division specializes in educational and social learning experiences for children through their Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Programs. Further pursuing this goal for early literacy and educational enhancement within the city, they participated in a professional development training program through the Lectio Institute.
The Lectio Institute guides stakeholders through an intensive process focused on improving the quality and results of their early learning and literacy programming services. Reading Success by 4th Grade (RS4G) brought the Lectio Approach to the Springfield literacy ecosystem. RS4G invited community partners and literacy leaders with a footprint in the city to learn more about early literacy, improvement in science, and creating and refining the literacy landscape.
The Lectio Institute upholds that “it is critical that we, as a field, take on a new approach to promoting children’s early reading skills—one that ensures our efforts and that help our children reach their potential.”
Gabriela Santiago, the Springfield Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator, acted as program leader throughout the Lectio Institute training and commented on its valued impact on their department’s current strategy and future goals.
“Lectio is a reminder of the value of quality,” said Santiago. “One useful strategy was their process of identifying a problem and taking that problem and relating it to the individual level, the programmatic level, the landscape level, and finally the overall initiative.”
This Lectio approach of reflecting on current initiatives and making adjustments to create a framework based on research can lead to more successful endeavors. This may take place through cutting old programs, hiring new staff, shifting outreach strategies, and “not being afraid of changes for the better of the programming.”
The Parks and Recreation Department is planning to enrich the activities and opportunities they already offer to the public. Their main program provides educational and socializing child care to families within the city, both after school and in summer sessions. They also offer swimming lessons, homework help, creative art projects, and fitness workshops.
Building on these initiatives, they are also “preparing the next professional development meeting where a plan will be introduced to the staff who work directly with the children,” said Santiago. “We have also ordered new materials that focus on literacy and social emotional development such as providing a “personal library” for each student with their own reading log, sentence strips, and at least 3-4 books per participant.”
While pursuing these endeavors and creating fresh framework goals, the department is optimistic they are “finding ways as a collaborative to improve literacy levels,” Santiago said. The training “was also important to us because it served as a reminder of the need to continue networking and value the many important and brilliant resources around us.”
Through the Lectio Institute training, local early literacy organizations were able to come together, assess their successes and failures, and create plans to further help the community. Despite the struggles they may encounter, this cooperation and devotion to similar goals can assist families and create countless brighter futures within the city.
Springfield Parks and Recreation
offers innovative programs, enriching learning experiences, and fitness activities for participating children in Springfield, Massachusetts. http://www.springfield-ma.gov/park/
Reading Success by 4th Grade
is a community-wide initiative to get all of Springfield’s kids reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade. Their projects bring people together to learn, share, and advocate for early literacy in Springfield, Massachusetts. www.readby4thgrade.com
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn: @ReadBy4thGrade
The Lectio Approach:
Our mission is to unlock the power of our collective commitment to America’s youngest readers. We work to ensure that all children's literacy efforts and those they serve reach their potential, and that all stakeholders see the results and impacts they intended. www.lectioapproach.com
Chrissy Howard
Manager
Reading Success by 4th Grade
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