At the heart of United Way’s mission is the understanding that our future success begins with our youth. Our state and nation are in the middle of a reading epidemic, with less than half of third grade students reading on grade level in most places. To break cycles of generational poverty, improve academic performance, and foster a love of learning, we mobilized our resources to create educational programs that focus on youth opportunity for the next generation of leaders.
All Star Readers
Sponsored by The Community Foundation of West Tennessee, the Jackson Rockabillys, and UT-Martin, this program incentivizes independent reading among kindergarten through third-grade students across the region and rewards them for their progress. Participants track their reading with the provided log sheet, then prizes are awarded to those who achieve each mini-challenge.
P2P
As a partnership between the Greater Jackson Chamber, Jackson-Madison County School System, and United Way of West Tennessee, The Greater Jackson Pathways2Possibilities (P2P) Career Expo is a hands-on interactive opportunity for eighth grade students to explore potential career opportunities. Roughly 2,500 eighth graders are invited to attend from public, private, and home schools within these regional counties: Carroll, Chester, Crockett, Decatur, Henderson, Madison, McNairy, and Perry.
The READ Team & WOW Wagon
Sponsored by the Leaders Education Foundation, the READ Team pairs volunteer coaches with second-grade students to help improve their sight word recognition. By volunteering just one hour per week, coaches make a measurable impact on the lives of our students. As part of The READ Team, the WOW Wagon is a mobile library that provides free books for children in local neighborhoods and schools. Books are donated by the community and are available to those in Pre-K through high school.
West Tennessee Story Fund
The West Tennessee Story Fund is our monthly giving program dedicated to fueling literacy programs across our region. By becoming a monthly donor, you help write brighter futures for children and families, one page at a time. Story Fund givers directly support local literacy initiatives like All Star Readers, The READ Team, WOW Wagon, Hub City Baby, Storybook Trails, Little Free Libraries, and the West TN Regional Literacy Consortium. These programs put books in children’s hands and connect families with literacy resources across our 15-county service area.