History
History of The Brookline Literacy Partnership (BLP)
Our Beginnings:
The Brookline Literacy Partnership (BLP) was founded in 2008 by then-Brookline High School student, Sarah Plovnick, and a small group of committed students. It was an outgrowth of a community service day at Temple Ohabei Shalom.
The BLP partnered with the Ralph Waldo Emerson school in Roxbury, which had no school library, lacked literacy resources, and had many English language learner (ELL) students from Cape Verde.
Quickly, the student-led organization based at Brookline High School began to raise money and collect books for the Emerson.
At the Emerson:
While at the Emerson, the BLP collected over 4,000 books for the school and classroom libraries and organized these books into a checking-out system.
In March of 2010, they staged the first annual IntelliJam world music benefit concert, raising over $10,000.
The following year, the BLP expanded its work at the Emerson, founding the Tutoring and Vacation Books projects, and gained many new members.
The Tutoring program brought 15 Brookline High students to the Emerson each week to work one-on-one with students struggling with reading.
The Vacation Books project sent each student at the Emerson home with a book of their choice just before February vacation.
The BLP also established an adult advisory board in Fall 2010 to help facilitate partnerships with businesses in the Brookline community.
The BLP put on the second annual IntelliJam in May 2011, held at Temple Ohabei Shalom, raising nearly $10,000.
Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the Emerson School was closed following the 2010-2011 school year, and the Brookline Literacy Partnership had to say goodbye and search for a new school.
Move to the Mather:
After a summer of investigation, the BLP decided to partner with the Mather School in Dorchester, the nation’s first public elementary school. The Mather is a K-5 school with over 600 students.
The BLP again added many new student members, and is partnering with other organizations, schools and businesses in Brookline.
The BLP continued its three signature projects at the Mather School: Developing Library Collections, Tutoring Program, and Vacation Books.
The BLP recently completed a library-organizing day to help make the books at the Mather library more accessible. Plans are underway to expand the classroom libraries.
The first tutoring session was a success and the program is poised to expand. Options are being explored to obtain additional transportation to accommodate more tutors.
Vacation Books will be distributed to all 4th and 5th graders during February vacation.
The BLP has begun planning for the third annual IntelliJam fundraising concert:
Save the Date: Saturday, March 17, 3pm, at Brookline High.
The BLP started to focus on social media and has a new website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account.
