HSPVA Literacy Club Back in Action

HSPVA Literary Club. Pictured (from left) are creative writer Kimberly "Saturn" Medrano, visual artist Anna White, Cyrus Pacht, pianist Kate Ham, creative writer Seokhyun Baek, and tubist Jacob Poe. Other members who are not pictured include David Alexander, Liza Anderson, Zachary Bergman, Conny Egozi, Andrew Lavelle, Sam Linda, Ryan Pennington, Audrey Rytting, Kizer Shelton, Emily Soice and Andre White.

A phrase that may be lingering somewhere in the back of your consciousness - you’ve heard it before, but you don’t know what it means - is the 30 million word gap. What is this phenomenon?

In 1995, a study by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley revealed that before the age of 3, due to differences in hours that children are read and spoken to by their parents, those of low-income status are exposed to 30 million fewer words than their higher-income counterparts. This disparity becomes catastrophic as the less privileged students fail to attain basic literacy, use the public education system to advance themselves, and eventually even fill out legal and medical documents as adults, creating not merely an inequality of means, but of opportunities.

Through studies like these, the importance of literacy has become increasingly apparent: not only does reading enrich our lives on a personal, intellectual, and social level, but functionally, it is the barrier-breaker that connects individuals with the outside world; indeed, it is communication.

Organizations like SMART Family Literacy, based in Galveston, serve to treat the malaise of illiteracy. It was conceived as a non-profit charity in 2004 by Elizabeth Turner after discovering the popularity of the “SMART parties” she held for her son Andrew, who has Down’s syndrome, so that he could learn to read and discuss books with friends. SMART Family Literacy “presents innovative hands-on activities in science, math, art, reading and technology at school gardens, farmers markets, and other community venues.”

The purpose, among other things, is to improve family literacy in health and nutrition and promote a balanced bilingualism and love of learning. In the last year alone, it has donated over 6,700 books to under-privileged children, and around 40,000 since 2004.

So where does HSPVA come in? Our school’s Literacy Club, founded in the fall of 2013, works in affiliation with SMART Family Literacy to promote the same goals. We have built a garden at Weiss Elementary in Galveston and read books and taught science to kids at the Galveston Farmers Market ‘Read and Seed’ events. We plan to donate thousands of books to low-income children, and conduct writing workshops on Sundays at Burnet ECU Elementary, which has a low English-speaking population, and the high-functioning special needs Harris School, as well as raise lots of money for SMART Family Literacy at fundraisers.

Currently, visual artist Anna White and I are working on a children’s book that will eventually be read aloud on the SMART Family Literacy website. However, you don’t have to be a member of HSPVA or on the board of SMART Family Literacy; all you have to do is show up. So, in sum, stay posted for any volunteer and/or fundraising opportunities for this great cause!