Students Invited to Build Connections, Champion Literacy in Toledo’s Junction Neighborhood

Students Invited to Build Connections, Champion Literacy in Toledo's Junction Neighborhood

University of Toledo students are invited to volunteer at a community service event bringing together the campus community and Junction neighborhood families on Monday, Feb. 23.

UToledo and the Art Tatum Zone, a local nonprofit led by alumni Calvin and Christine Sweeney, will host families for Literacy Is Empowerment, a fun-filled program designed to foster a love of reading in children and to equip their parents and caregivers with practical strategies to support their literacy development outside of school.

The event will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jones Leadership Academy of Business, 430 Nebraska Ave., Toledo. A free bus will leave from Thompson Student Union at 4:40 p.m., and dinner will be provided.

Volunteers are encouraged to sign up online by noon on Friday, Feb. 20.

Several UToledo colleges and departments are collaborating on the event, including the Honors College, the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Studies and the Judith Herb College of Arts, Social Sciences and Education's Department of Teacher Education, Department of Political Science and Public Administration and Herb Innovation Center.

"This is a great opportunity for students to build connections with our neighbors and support an amazing organization in the Art Tatum Zone," said Dr. Emily Bedwell, an organizer and assistant lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. "All UToledo students are invited to participate."