Wahluke School District

The Wahluke School District project will help bridge equity gaps in literacy experienced by rural, low-income, Hispanic students that were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to books was already a challenge for families when school and public library closures made access to materials nearly impossible for almost a year. With this project, physical and digital books will be purchased for libraries at three elementary schools and a junior high school. Makerspaces within the libraries will invite students to use knowledge gained through the use of technology during the pandemic to demonstrate literacy and build learning agency and self-efficacy. Student artifacts of learning created in the makerspace will be shared on new library websites to help connect them to learning spaces outside the school where they have spent a good part of the last year. These best practices, among others, will contribute to progress in reading achievement and successful recovery from interruptions to education during the pandemic.