CINCINNATI — When school lets out, Tiffany Thomas knows it’s only a matter of minutes before kids of all ages come bursting through the doors of the Winton Hills Recreation Center.
As a new service area coordinator, Thomas spent the past few months getting to know what works best for all the different age groups she sees. Older kids like to head to the computer labs first, younger kids love early playtime, but when it comes time to get reading, she noticed a lot of her students seem to struggle. That’s when Thomas started looking for ways to help.
“They need that positive interaction when they’re struggling to get through a story or get a word,” she said.
Across the country, reading proficiency lagged in the pandemic's wake, particularly among younger students.
Those in disenfranchised communities appeared to see a disproportionate level of disruption to their children’s education, and as a predominantly Black neighborhood where about two-thirds of residents live in poverty, Winton Hills appears to be one of them.
According to Thomas, when schools went virtual, many kids in the neighborhood lost access to the easiest way to find and take home books.
“There’s no community library in the neighborhood,” she said. “They would have to go to College Hill, which is on North Bend Road, and most people in this neighborhood don’t have transportation.”
As a result, literacy suffered, exacerbating trends that have already existed across the state.
According to the Ohio Department of Education, by the time students reach 4th grade, 65% of white students are scoring proficient or higher on state language exams, compared to 27% of Black students. Proficiency rates dipped dramatically between 2019 and 2021 among all students, but the gap widened.
“I know that’s essential, and it’s necessary for at least African American kids to be able to see somebody reading to them and have books for them to be able to read,” Thomas said.
That’s why she got in touch with the Black Power Initiative, partnered with their literacy efforts, and started a book drive at the recreation center.
“My goal was 200 books,” she said. “I wanted to make sure everybody walked away with a book.”
Through BPI, stores like Blue Manatee, Friends of Cincinnati Library and other donations, Thomas gathered more than 400 books, most of which featured diverse characters and stories of varied backgrounds.
“So that the kids that are getting the books can see themselves in the books,” she said.
The Winton Hills Recreation Center gave away most of those books at its reading drive in early March, but to ensure kids could keep finding new stories, Thomas also opened up a little free library at the recreation center.
“Being able to go to a library and get a book that you actually like can motivate you to read more,” she said.
Now that they can get books in their hands, Thomas said her next focus is on ensuring the kids are putting in the practice.
“Every day, I’ve been reading with the kids and giving them time to work on their reading,” she said. “I listen to them read and encourage them to just get through the story”
Thomas hopes with enough encouragement and the right stories, she can help her kids grow into lifelong readers.
“Reading is like a part of everyday life, so you need to be able to read like when you’re going to school, when you get into the work field and the next level in your grade level,” she said.
This was one of a series of literacy drives the Black Power Initiative has been working to get off the ground. The group plans to host a series of events directed at various grade levels and neighborhoods across Cincinnati over the year.