Promise Center of Homewood helps improve reading skills: "These kids want more."
The Promise Center of Homewood held a special celebration this week to recognize the students who completed its summer reading program. It's an initiative the center's founder, Nathaniel Goodson, considers to be one of its most important in terms of impact.
"We need the reading piece, the literacy piece," said Goodson, who opened the building on Frankstown Avenue in 2022. "Because that connects to everything else that's going on, because they've got to be able to read."
Goodson said they initially began a STEAM pilot program in 2022, but he quickly realized the students weren't responding well to it. He eventually realized a significant number of the students weren't able to read, so he knew he needed to change his approach.
"We went back to the basics," he said.
After reaching out to various locations around the area for help, Goodson finally got a response from Carlow University.
"We had a 17-year-old that couldn't read," he said. "I had a first grader come up to me — literally crying — saying, 'Mr. Nate, I can't read.' And I said, 'Do you want to know how to read?' And she said, 'Yes.'"
By bringing reading and learning specialists from Carlow to Homewood for one-on-one instruction with the students, the assessment of their reading abilities drastically improved. Some of the students improved by as many as half a dozen years in grade level, while some were essentially learning to read for the first time.
"We know statistically that only 1 in 4 students in this area can read at grade level," said Pennsylvania state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, a Democrat representing the 34th District, who personally visited the program and met the students. "But what I think that statistic doesn't really tell you is how far behind many of those other 75% of the students are."
According to county and state research, an estimated 13% of adults in Allegheny County (ages 16-74) are reading at or below the basic reading level, 5.1% below the state average.
"The first day I started, I really didn't know how to read or spell," said Tormaya Bey-Finley, a junior at Pittsburgh Westinghouse this upcoming school year. "But when Carlow came, I really got better at reading and spelling."
Salisbury said she is seeking more state support for the program to keep it operating year-round.
"I think a lot of people may be somewhat negative and have the 'kids today' kind of an attitude, but these kids want more," she said. "They want to be challenged, and they want to learn, and they're eager to learn and participate in things. I don't want this to be the end of the program for them."
