Mover & Shaker of The Year Award Finalist - Rina Madhani
Promoting Literacy in the Bronx
How do you promote literacy in the Bronx, and why are you passionate about it?
Start Lighthouse tackles some of the key factors driving childhood illiteracy by delivering children with targeted literacy kits throughout the year, providing schools with programming, and resources for parents and caretakers for literacy learning at home. Our literacy kits include 2 brand-new multicultural books, bilingual comprehension guides, and reflective activities that tailor to the books. The combination of these additional guides and activities increase students’ engagement with the books and helps families guide the development of comprehension skills. With our school partners, we cultivate inclusive learning spaces that approach literacy through a multicultural lens. Our racial justice literacy program centers diverse literature, so students see themselves in what they read. We partner with publishing houses and authors to provide literature that centers BIPOC youth and stories of resiliency, courage, and joy. Given the importance of parents’ involvement in the development of language skills and emergent literacy, our organization engages families daily to assess their needs. That’s why we host monthly workshops with our community partners to train families on supporting literacy at home through our kits and other topics such as financial, healthcare, and political literacy. As an educator in the Bronx, I witnessed the inequities that have become institutionalized within our education system. I began my career by teaching 10th grade ELA in a public high school. I quickly learned just how behind my students were with many still reading at a 4th grade level. My students had been pushed through the education system without access to the fundamental skills and services necessary to succeed. As I later transitioned to elementary education, it was clear that the problem was pervasive across grade levels. Our rigid and sometimes antiquated education system was not designed for most students, in particular students who came from non-native English speaking backgrounds. I realized that the biggest barrier to literacy was access to books and a lack of culturally-affirming spaces in and outside of the classroom. Most students did not have books at home, books - an impossible luxury when many of their families were a rent check away from eviction.
What is a book that has been meaningful to you? Who is someone that has mentored or inspired you?
A book that has been meaningful to me is Mira Jacob’s Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. This book has profoundly impacted me because similar to Mira, I am the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to America in order to provide a better future for their children. Mira’s book explores race, complicated family dynamics, as well as the current political landscape in the most eye-opening and courageous way. I laughed as much as I cried while reading her novel.
I am so lucky to have an older brother who mentors and inspires me every single day. Ever since I was a kid, I have looked up to him because he is absolutely fearless in everything that he does. Several years ago, he decided to quit his job and put his savings towards founding his own legal-tech startup, Alt Legal. He has taught me to dream big and to be unapologetic when it comes to these dreams.
What is your hope for The Bronx and how do you envision being a part of that?
My hope for the Bronx is that literacy and destiny are no longer defined by an individual’s race or zip-code. Community members, students, and families are involved in the integration of policies and practices that impact their lives. As students become proficient readers and stay in school, their life expectancies and those of future generations improve. The cycle of poverty and illiteracy is disrupted.
Our vision and approach directly involves community-leaders, educators, administrators, and families to support in the development of this solution. Our literacy kits prioritize the work of BIPOC authors and illustrators because we believe that representation matters and to give them the recognition that they deserve.
To ensure that each child is given the right to succeed at a high standard within institutions, we reimagine literacy by centering social justice within our curriculum. This allows us to solve the issue of underrepresentation within teaching resources and literature, which favors a white cis-male perspective. We advocate for the integration of multicultural literature to reflect the culturally diverse lives and experiences within the classroom and the Bronx. By building diverse and integrated classrooms that encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity, our most marginalized youth will not be left behind. Our students will be reminded that their history and perspective on the world matters.