Rotary International reaches out to promote literacy

When most North Americans hear about illiteracy, they think it’s a problem in other parts of the world. Given that every U.S. and Canadian child has the opportunity to attend school, literacy rates ought to be much higher, according to author John Corcoran, author and literacy advocate. But poverty, undiagnosed learning disabilities, and sometimes even the education system itself are to blame for more and more children slipping through the cracks.

Mike Chittom, of the Rotary Club (RI) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has seen the effects of illiteracy firsthand in a third-grade classroom at a local school, which his club supports through a mentoring project. “If every Rotary club could get involved with a school, there is no telling what we could accomplish,” Chittom says. Read about how Rotary International is partnering with the International Reading Association, schools, and other organizations on RI’s website.