can workrr on their ownliteracy skills whilehelping their childrenwith the lessons.The concept is

based on downloadingthe mobile “app” to acell phone foff r use ei-ther on line or offff line,so no additionalmonies are requiredfoff r hardware, infrff a-structure or mainte-nance.Gregory Spencer,

the Califoff rnia Direc-tor of EducationalPartnerships foff r Foot-steps2Brilliance, de-scribed the programthis month to a dozenand a half members ofa new collaborative –including representa-tives of La Nueva VoVV z– that was convened by PomonaUnififf ed School District Supt.Richard Martinez.

Some 91 percent of adults owncell phones, plus app can be used

offff line with no data chargesSpencer told members of the

group that 91 percent of adults todayown a cell phone, making the pro-gram widely available throughoutthe community.And, since the “app” can be

downloaded once at a frff ee internet

The New Voice, a Bilingual (English/Spanish) PublicationPomona’s only community newspaper!

La Nueva VozIssue No. 80 Thursday, March 24, 2016 www.lanuevavoz.net

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Pomona Unififf ed School Districtis setting the stage foff r a roll-out ofan innovative interactive bilingualprogram to promote literacythroughout the school district – andthroughout the community – that isall based on a cell phone mobilelearning “app” and a program goalof reading one billion words in thefiff rst year.The school district will “flff ip the

switch” foff r the program at a newsconfeff rence scheduled foff r May 4 that

Pomona Unified to roll out innovative literacy program using cell phone appwill introduce the school district’spartner in the projo ect,Footsteps2Brilliance, Inc., an earlylearning (pre-kindergarten throughthird grade) technology companybased in WaWW shington, D.C.And, while the program initially

foff cuses on younger students to helpthem become profiff cient readers bythe third grade, it creates a turnkey,citywide literacy solution frff ee toeveryone in the community – in-cluding English learner adults – who

word gap,” Spencer said. “ToTT omany of our children come to schoolhaving heard interacting with 30million feff wer words than a childfrff om a more affff lff uent home.”In effff eff ct, thtt e Footsteps2Brilliance

program provides a “transfoff rmativemobile platfoff rm” that can cost ef-fffeff ctively scale educational apps tothe entire community and provideparents with the tools to becometheir children’s fiff rst teachers, tracktheir progress and help every childsucceed, according to a brief videoat the initial meeting of the commu-nity collaborative.And, because it is downloaded

onto individual cell phones, it isavailable 24 hours a day, seven daysa week, and in both English andSpanish.The program can also be accessed

live on line on the internet as well,Spencer said, making it readilyavailable to everyone – whether oncell phones, tablets, computers orother devices.Spencer said Califoff rnia residents

are already paying to incarceratechildren in the state each year.“WeWW ’re already paying the price

when we don’t have a literate com-munity,” he said.He said in the literacy program’s

fiff rst year, the community will foff cuson the “fiff rst 100 read initiative,”based on 100 children using the pro-

“hot spot” location and then used offffline, it requires no cell phone or dataplan charges and no internet accessat home.Spencer told members of the col-

laborative, meeting at school districtheadquarters, that the program foff -cuses on two key areas – a “virtual”universal preschool foff r 0 to 5 yearolds and a pre-kindergarten to sec-ond grade program.“It’s all about making sure that

we are mitigating the 30 million

Jannyda Sre,YoYY uth of the YeYY arthtt is yearaa foff r thtt e Boysand Girls Club ofPomona VaVV lley, lastmonth was namedone of six fiff nalists inthe fiff rst round ofcompetition foff r LosAngeles CountyYoYY uth of the YeYY ar.Sre, 18, has been a

member of the clubfoff r more than foff uryears, and she is asenior at Pomona’sGarey High Schoolwhere she maintains a 4.7 gradepoint average. She made the “fiff nalsix” out of 26 nominees representingone frff om each club throughout the

Pomona Boys and Girls Club ‘Youth of the Year’makes finals in L.A. County competition

county, and wasscheduled to appearin a second round ofjudging on March 16at ABC7 studios inLosAngeles in whichtwo “co-fiff nalists”were to be selected togo to thtt e state compmm e-tition next month.The Los Angeles

County “YoYY uth of theYeYY ar” co-fiff nalistswere expected to beannounced at anaward celebrationscheduled to be held

at the El Capitan Theatre in Holly-wood, sponsored by the LosAngelesCounty Alliance foff r Boys and Girls

Gregory SpencerFootsteps2Brilliance

Jannyda SrePomona Boys and Girls Club

YoYY uth of the YeYY ar

8 • Thursday, March 24, 2016 • La Nueva VoVV z

Find back issues fast in our archives atwww.lanuevavoz.net

gram at a total of 100 locations inthe community – hot spots at Mc-Donald’s restaurants, the Boys andGirls Club of Pomona VaVV lley andothers.Within that initial frff amework,

children will foff cus on reading thefiff rst 100,000 words which, he said,should happen in the fiff rst eight to 10days.WiWW th more students becoming in-

volved in the program, and byspending as little as 15 to 30 minutesa day on the program, the commu-nity would easily be able to reachthe goal of reading a minimum ofone billion words in the fiff rst year.

Goal is reading one billionwords in fiff rst year

“That has never been done in theU.S.,” Spencer said. “When that isdone, it changes the dynamics of thecommunity.”Aftff er the fiff rst year, he added, the

program will be customized foff rPomona.And, he said, the kids love it –

everything is based on fuff n lessonsthat can be used in the classroom, athome and on the go – all at the indi-vidual’s own pace.How will kids – and their parents

– learn about the program?Bilingual business cards will be

handed out in the community, townhall meetings will be convened, LaNueva VoVV z will continue to publishupdates on the program and more.Notes to paraa ents withtt program ac-

Literacy program... frff om pg. 1tivation infoff rmation will be senthome to the 52 percent of kids al-ready in the school district, althoughthe district hopes to reach the re-maining 48 percent of the kids notyet in the school system.Footsteps2Brilliance created the

literacy program concept in 2007 be-foff re smart phones. The programwas launched in Califoff rnia nearlytwo years ago and Napa became thefiff rst in the U.S. to take the programcountywide.Pomona Unififf ed conducted a suc-

cessfuff l pilot program at one schoollast spring, foff cusing on pre-school,trtt ansitional kindergr araa ten and kinder-garten, according to Deputy Supt. ofInstructional Services StephanieBaker.She said by January of this year,

with only 80 people trained, nearly13,000 books had been read, 7,100games had been played and 1,251books had been created – by pre-school children – all with a compre-hension level of 76 percent.Baker said the national average is

only 67 percent.She added that the school dis-

trict’s theme this year is “launchinginto hyperdrive, preparing ourschools foff r tomorrowland.”“This is what our students are

going to have to be prepared foff r,”she said, adding thtt at thtt e literacy pro-gram will help make that possible.Pomona Unififf ed Supt. Martinez

said numbers are improving, and the

school district today has a gradua-tion rate of 83 percent, higher thanthe state average of 80.8 percent andthe Los Angeles County average of78 percent.But the district still has about 60

percent of the student body not “col-lege ready” when they leave school.

Concept enables reading skillsdevelopment in early grades“It starts at the beginning, it does-

n’t start in ninth grade,” he said.“The reality is if they are already faff rbehind at the beginning because oftheir reading skills, they’re not atgrade level, they’re faff r below basicwhen they hit third grade.”He said by workr ing with the stu-

dents and the district’s community

paraa tr ners, he believes stutt dentswill not be reading simply atgrade level by third grade –they will be advanced.Martinez cited neighbor-

ing school districts in Clare-mont, WaWW lnut VaVV lley, Chinoand Bonita where studentsare reading above gradelevel, “partly becausethey’ve been exposed tobooks early on” and partlybecause they have parents“that are not struggling athome to just try to put foff odon their table.”“They’re exposed to more

things,” he said, frff om com-puters at home to museumsand they “do things in

summer time that our kids don’tget to do.”Martinez said the collabora-

tive will help ensure the dis-trict’s students are successfuff l.“And reading is defiff nitely a

basis of where we want to makesure we do well,” he said.“WeWW ’re bringing technology

together with young students,”Martinez added, with a literacyprogram that will “give themmore tools in their toolbox.”“It’s going to change the fuff -

ture,” he said, by closing thereading “gapa ” that begins befoff rekids even enroll in pre-school.“WiWW th literacy, everyone can

achieve,” Baker said. “Theycan go to college, they can go tocareer, they can engage in poli-tics, they can serve the commu-nity if they are literate. And,

when we have a literate community,we have a safeff community.”Parents of children living within

the Pomona Unififf ed School Districtcan register foff r the frff ee program bygoing on line atwww.myf2ff b.com/register/rr pomona.Pomona Unififf ed’s enrollment is

nearly 25,000 students in kinder-garten through grade 12 and morethan 2,000 students in pre-kinder-garten.Of those students, 37 percent are

English learaa ners and, combm ining stu-dents who foff rmerly were Englishlearners but have been reclassififf ed,more than 60 percent of the studentscame into the system not being pro-fiff cient in the English language.

Supt. Richard Martinez

Deputy Supt. Stephanie Baker

VeVV ndors and others interested inparticipating in the 10th annualMillion Mothers March celebrationand balloon send offff are urged tocontact the Kennedy Austin Foun-dation in Pomona.

street violence or accidents to sharefeff elings with others with similarlosses. It also helps rememberthose who have died.For more infoff rmation, contact

(909) 480-3357.

Million Mothers March date set in MayThis year’s event is scheduled

foff r May 21 in the Pomona CivicCenter.The annual march provides an

opportunity foff r mothers and lovedones who have lost children to

Pick up your frff ee copy of La Nueva VoVV z at these locations and dozens more:

A new La Nueva VoVV z publishes each monthon the foff urth Thursday of the month.

• Pomona City Hall lobby• Pomona library• Claremont library• Claremont City Hall lobby• La VeVV rne City Hall lobby• La VeVV rne Senior Citizens Center• Pomona Chamber of Commerce,101 W. Mission Blvd., Pomona

• Downtown Pomona OwnersAssociation, 119 W. 2nd St., Pomona

• Pomona Unififf ed School District administration building lobby• WeWW stern University of Health Sciences Patient Care Center• Boys and Girls Clubs of Pomona VaVV lley, 1420 S. Garey AvAA e., Pomona• Pomona VaVV lley Hospital Medical Center maternity lobby, outpatientservices, emergency room

• Gold Strike Markrr et Carniceria, 412 N. Parkrr AvAA e., Pomona• Jicamex TaTT cos Y Carniceria, 604 E. Mission Blvd., Pomona• Central Markrr et, ToTT wne AvAA enue and Phillips Boulevard, Pomona• Fairplex Chevron, Fairplex Drive and San Bernardino Freeway, Pomona• Discount Markrr et, Philadelphia Street and ToTT wne AvAA enue, Pomona• LaunderLand Coin Op Laundry, 744 E. Holt AvAA e., Pomona• American Legion Post #30, 239 E. Holt AvAA e., Pomona• Pomona Eagles, 954 W. Mission Blvd., Pomona