Boys and Girls Clubs Literacy Partnership with Groves Academy
 
THE NEED 
76% of Minneapolis and St. Paul Public school students who receive free and reduced lunch are NOT reading proficiently by third grade. These children are at risk of performing poorly in school.  Poor school performance can contribute to possible behavioral problems, repeating grades, and possibly dropping out of school altogether. The Department of Justice states, &The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.Over 70% of inmates in America's prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level. 
Groves Academy changed the face of literacy education for all students in higher education seeking to become licensed teachers in the State of Minnesota. Their methodologies  for teaching reading are of the highest standard. 
OUR GOAL
Reading proficiently by the end of third grade is often a predictor for future academic and life success. Through third grade most students are learning to read, but in fourth grade they begin reading to learn. In other words, by 4th grade students are reading in order to gain information and think critically in all subject areas.  Groves Academy is implementing their research based reading education and data proven methodologies into The Boys and Girls Clubs environment. The goal of the program is to improve members’ reading level by an additional 2 years of full grade-level growth for every year they participate. This project began in September 2016.
 
Terryl Brumm, President & CEO for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities (‘The Club’)  is a dedicated nonprofit leader with over nineteen years’ experience serving youth in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.  Brumm believes that an essential component of the Club’s vision for the future is continued investment in program expansion tied to revenue growth. The organization is focused on providing an optimal Club Experience that assures success is within reach of every young person, with all members on track to graduate from high school with a plan for the future, demonstrating good character and citizenship, and living a healthy lifestyle.  Under her leadership, the organization has established a strong partnership with Groves Academy to implement a research-based literacy program.  The Club also activated a comprehensive teen pathways initiative that ensures middle and high school youth are on track to graduate with a fully developed and meaningful plan for post-secondary.  Brumm received a BS degree in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. 
 
Jim Meinen is currently Senior Director of Business Operations at Groves Academy. Prior to Groves, Jim spent 33 years in the technology sector and has held leadership positions which 
includes bringing a company public on the London Stock Exchange resulting in a global integration, a partner in a software startup and has led a management buyout. Directly prior to Groves, Jim was partner with a global strategic management consulting firm. He served 6 years on the Board of Trustees