FirstBank, Multisensory Reading Centers partner to help students with reading difficulties
FirstBank joined Multisensory Reading Centers of Puerto Rico and its “Readers for the Future” intervention program to provide specialized instruction aimed at optimizing reading skills in K-3 children at elementary schools Manuel Elzaburu Vizcarrondo in Cantera and Luis Llorens Torres in San Juan, the entities announced.
Stating that only 43% of students in Puerto Rico finish third grade with good reading skills, while 60% do not achieve reading aptitude. Consequently, at a very early stage, students face great educational challenges that practically guarantee their academic failure.
The “Readers for the Future” program focuses on multisensory teaching techniques and works with a team of educators certified in the Orton-Gillingham reading approach.
“As part of our Community Reinvestment Program, we support education projects for children and youth,” said Catherine Ríos, community reinvestment officer at FirstBank.
“This partnership with Multisensory Reading Centers of Puerto Rico will help students who are behind in reading and students with dyslexia in two public schools in San Juan develop their reading knowledge through explicit, multisensory instruction from kindergarten to third grade, helping them retain information, develop and improve their reading skills considerably, and become successful students,” she said.
Student participants in “Readers for the Future” receive 95 intervention sessions per year. Each session is conducted in small groups and runs 50 minutes for first to third grade students, four times a week; sessions for kindergarten students run approximately 30 minutes and are conducted twice a week.
