Reading for the Future Initiative
Reading Begins at Birth Action Team
Team Purpose
Parents are a child’s first teacher. The Reading Begins at Birth Action Team is focused on helping more parents feel confident in their abilities to support their children in learning to read.
Our team aims to ensure all parents and at home caregivers of children age 0-4 in Brown County are confident building early literacy by reading, singing, talking, playing and writing with their children.
Why? In 2023, Community Listening and Human Centered Design Workshops identified an opportunity to support parent confidence by providing tools to help with learning at home.
Team Members
Team Facilitator:
- Ashley Bethke, Director of Partnership Advancement
Team Support:
- Michelle Korth,
Operations Manager
Community Partners:
- David Bartikofsky, Earthlink
- Rick Bowers, Reading Connections, Inc.
- Katie Guzek, Brown County Library
- Robyn Hallet, Wisconsin Literacy
- Delaney Hutchinson, Howe Community Resource Center
- Andrea Knope, Family & Childcare Resources N.E.W
- Eileen Metzler, Volunteer Center of Brown County
- Nancy Pfankuch, Retired Educator & Community Volunteer
- Whitney Potvin, Children’s Museum of Green Bay
- Amy Spice, Retired Educator & Community Volunteer
- Stephanie Springer, Encompass Early Education & Care, Inc.
- Mark Steuer, Retired Community Member
- Patty Woeslaw, Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin
- Jolee Zehren, Head Start/Green Bay Area Public School District
2025 Team Priorities & Projects
Recent Results & Accomplishments
- Our team has brought people together and identified challenges that are impacting a families ability to confidently support early literacy development.
- We have aligned on a result statement: we aim to develop an early literacy asset map as the first project to help our community improve the flow of early literacy resources to parents and providers throughout Brown County.
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