Savitha Moorthy, shares Furqan’s First Flat Top to kindergarteners at Lincoln Elementary.

At Tandem, we believe passionately in the power of a children’s book to foster critical conversations and the life-long pursuit of knowledge. Armed with an equity lens, our mission is to ensure that all children have the resources, skills, and confidence needed to be successful in school and beyond. In order to build these foundations, children need meaningful opportunities and interactive experiences that contribute to healthy brain development, strong language and literacy skills, and most importantly bring joy to learning. 

This February, we celebrate Black History Month by participating in the African-American Read-In organized by the Oakland Education Fund. From February 3 through February 7, Tandem team members joined community volunteers to visit elementary schools in the Oakland Unified School District to share books celebrating the culture, history, and experiences of the African-American community. For this year’s African American Read-In, Tandem staff visited and read to children in Lockwood Elementary, Community United Elementary School, Futures Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, and Markham Elementary.

African-American Read-In volunteers at Lockwood Elementary in Oakland.

The book-sharing experience is at the heart of StoryCycles, Tandem’s school-to-home book rotation program. Tandem’s Early Learning Specialists work hard to bring books into preschool, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms all year round. These books are all drawn from Tandem’s carefully curated book collection, which includes books that are mirrors, reflecting the experiences of children and families we serve, and windows, offering children and families a view into new, barely-imagined worlds. When they visit the classroom and share these books with children, our Early Learning Specialists delight in bringing these stories to life, validating and uplifting diverse cultural identities in a joyful academic context. 

Participating in the Read-Ins organized by the Oakland Public Education Fund provides Tandem the opportunity to bring the magic of interactive Read Alouds (a.k.a. our “secret sauce”) to schools outside our StoryCycles program and to children outside our target age group.  

Tandem Early Learning Specialist, Tania Camacho-Pineda, with Lockwood Elementary students.

The African-American Read-In is one of the four Read-Ins organized by the Oakland Education Fund; other Read-Ins organized at different times of the year celebrate Asian Pacific-Islander, Latinx, and LGBTQ identities. You can learn more and get involved here. Tandem team members participate in every Read-In organized by the Oakland Education Fund and we were delighted to be honored in 2019 as the Read-In Partner of the Year. 

Please visit  www.oaklandedfund.org/one-time-volunteers/ to learn how you can volunteer with the Oakland Education Fund and participate in future Read-Ins. 

See a list of books that Tandem team members read to children as part of the African American Read-In and other Tandem favorites for Black History Month.