ASD Foundation Receives $10,000 Endowment to Improve Literacy in Allentown Middle Schools

ASD Foundation Receives $10,000 Endowment to Improve Literacy in Allentown Middle Schools
Posted on 12/22/2021

December 22, 2021, Allentown, PA – The Allentown School District Foundation is excited to announce a new endowed program valued at $10,000 aimed at inspiring and developing lifelong readers. The program, Reading is Rewarding, will be funded fully by Allentown resident and member of the ASDF Board, The Reverend Maria Tjeltveit.

Reading is Rewarding started as a pilot at Raub Middle School, during hybrid learning last spring and will continue through the end of this school year. Reverend Tjeltveit works directly with the school reading specialist to identify 2 students at each grade level who make the most progress in reading and compression each marking period. Students can be reading at any grade level and are selected based on their amount of improvement.  The students who make the most progress will be rewarded with a new book that they select with the help of the staff and school librarian.

“Reading is a lifelong activity, adds to one’s quality of life and is an essential life and work skill,” said Julie Ambrose, Executive Director of the Allentown School District Foundation. “Our hope is that through Reading is Rewarding, we can motivate more students to make progress in reading and comprehension.”

On Wednesday, December 22, Reverend Tjeltveit & the Foundation presented the first group of 6 students with the books that they had selected as a reward for the first marking period of the year. After the pilot concludes, this endowed gift gives the Foundation the opportunity to possibly expand the program to other grade levels or schools in ASD.  This gift marks the first ever gift to the ASD Foundation under the ASDF's new Endowed Programs policy approved at the December 2, 2021 Board Meeting.


About the Allentown School District Foundation

The ASD Foundation has a mission to encourage, promote, support and fund positive educational experiences for students in the Allentown School District. Since its founding in 2009, the Foundation has raised over $7.5 million for supplemental programming and conduit support for ASD schools. If you would like to learn how you can support the work of the Foundation with contributions or by volunteering, please contact Executive Director, Dr. Julie K. Ambrose, at 484-765-4093 or [email protected]. The mailing address is P.O. Box 328, 31 South Penn Street, Allentown, PA 18105, and the website is www.allentownsd.org/asdf.

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