SBCOE Hosts Literacy Summit\

The San Benito County Office of Education (SBCOE) hosted the county’s first Literacy Summit on January 25, 2024 at the Veteran’s Memorial Building in downtown Hollister. SBCOE Director of Curriculum & Instruction and Equity & Access, Mai Cruz, coordinated the event, which featured nationally renowned speaker and educator, Dr. Kate Kinsella. The Summit brought together parents, educators, and community members to learn how they can support literacy for students throughout San Benito County.

Literacy is arguably the most crucial factor in determining whether a student will succeed in school and beyond.  Research indicates that students who do not arrive to kindergarten with adequate literacy skills are significantly less likely to meet College & Career Readiness benchmarks throughout their entire academic career. Moreover, those who are not reading at grade level by fourth grade are highly unlikely to meet any College & Career Readiness benchmarks by high school graduation. These students are at the highest risk of dropping out of school, engaging in high-risk behaviors, and becoming involved with juvenile protection and law enforcement agencies.

San Benito County office of Education is actively working to improve literacy in the county through its Building Bridges2Literacy Initiative. As one part of the initiative, SBCOE’s Literacy Summit seeks to improve student literacy by educating the adults around them on strategies and activities they can use to build literacy skills throughout each student’s academic career. Attendees heard from keynote speaker, Dr. Kate Kinsella and participated in Roundtable Discussions led by local educational leaders and partners including Hollister Elementary School District, Navigator Schools, North County Joint Union School District, San Benito High School District, Footstep2Brilliance, and Scholastic. Roundtable discussions focused on how to support literacy for preschool, elementary, middle, and high school students as well as for multi-lingual learners and struggling readers. The highlight of the evening was the recognition of the top 15 readers from SBCOE’s Winter Reading Challenge who were honored at the event. See Top 15 Readers

San Benito County Office of Education would like to thank our sponsors: California Mutual Insurance Company, Footsteps2Brilliance, LG Sign Co., Mechanics Bank, Mindful Healing Therapeutic Services, Nexus Ed Solutions, Scholastic and VFW Post 9242/American Legion Post 69 with special appreciation to the VFW Post 9242/American Legion Post 69 who provided the venue and catered the event.