WHY WORDPLAY?
Certain factors in our young people's lives prevent them from reaching their full potential.
Social Divides
Our communities today are divided by cultural, racial and economic factors. In a local survey, young people expressed a desire to be connected to their communities while acknowledging that this is often not the case. This disconnect sows the seeds of intolerance and harms development of key social and emotional skills, including being able to communicate, learn and celebrate with others. For young people to thrive, they need safe, inclusive spaces to come together and connect.
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Barriers to Learning
We all face challenges in our daily lives when stressful environmental factors build up and go unaddressed. (Think: It's difficult to read a book in a tornado.) For young people in school, any number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can make it difficult to learn and succeed. A recent survey revealed nearly 85% of youth thought they would graduate from high school; yet 1 in 5 students surveyed did not graduate in 4 years.
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Lack of Access to Opportunity
Without access, there can never be equity. More than two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students is due to lack of access to learning opportunities over the summer. Young people need access where they are (not only in the summer, but year-round) to collaborations across arts communities, schools and research in order to create a conduit for providing life-changing opportunities.
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1. & 2. It Takes a Village: Making Cincinnati a Better Place for All Youth
3. Summer Can Set Kids on the Right—or Wrong—Course
THE WORDPLAY SOLUTION
WordPlay is a grassroots-founded nonprofit organization committed to building a Cincinnati where all people are connected, compassionate and empowered to access opportunities. Our innovative programs are carefully designed to spark creativity and create self-efficacy, inspiring children and teens to become lifelong learners. These reading, writing and storytelling programs take place in our community writing center, at schools and collaboration with other organizations across the city.
EVERYONE
HAS A STORY.
From the smallest kindergartener to the tallest teen, every student who walks through WordPlay's doors has a story to tell. We want them to know that their stories are worth telling.
MAKE A GIFT TODAY
to help local kids and teens fulfill their potential through reading, writing and storytelling.
SINCE 2012:
children & teens have been reached by WordPlay programs
volunteers have been trained
books have been
given to
children & teens