WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN LITERACY CORPORATION
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANIZATION
The American Literacy Corporation (ALC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The purpose of the ALC is to design and implement supplemental literacy programs to promote the importance of learning to elementary school students mostly grades K-5. Since the founding of the ALC in January 2001, the ALC has read to over 250,000 children.
The mission of the ALC is to support new and on-going literacy efforts by working with head start programs, schools, daycare centers, libraries, churches, community-based organizations, and other institutions with programs targeting educational enhancement and development for elementary-age (K-5) students.
The need for the American Literacy Corporation according to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 4 in 10 American fourth graders are unable to read at the basic level needed for school success. Studies also show that one of the fastest growing industries in the United States is the prison system. Our youth are becoming a part of the Juvenile Delinquent system at alarming rates and younger ages. Since 1985, particularly in Dauphin County, juvenile crimes have more than doubled. The numbers are staggering and it appears that there is no immediate relief insight.
The ALC works with all children to include those living in communities that are ravaged by poverty, drugs and crime and those in overcrowded school districts. Still others, while not lacking financial resources, are in need of innovative educational tools.
Each year a growing number of children and adults suffer from illiteracy. The ALC has been established to combat illiteracy at an early age by working with elementary-aged students. It has been proven that with early intervention the rate of reading failure in the early grades can be reduced to less than 10% as stated by the National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Studies show that reading aloud to young children helps build language skills critical for later reading success (Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, National Research Council, 1998). Children who are read to regularly for several months make great strides in reading comprehension and vocabulary skills (the Power of Reading: Insights from Research, Stephen Krahen, 1993).