 Dear Friend,
This March, in classrooms and homes across Michigan, kids sparked their imaginations and built lifelong skills through the everyday superpower of reading.
Lt. Governor Gilchrist and I visited classrooms across Michigan — in communities like Jackson, Lansing, Battle Creek, and Detroit — to read with students and engage with teachers about how we can help our kids become stronger readers, writers, and communicators.
The evidence is clear. When kids read early and often, they succeed. That’s why we have tripled literacy coaches in schools and signed ‘Science of Reading’ legislation to teach phonics in Michigan schools. This year, we’re pushing further with my Every Child Reads plan, the largest literacy investment in Michigan history.
My Every Child Reads plan will boost literacy by focusing on:
1) Early starts. Let’s continue to deliver free PreK for All, setting up every kid with a solid academic foundation, ensuring they arrive at kindergarten better prepared to learn.
2) Proven methods to teach reading. By supporting evidence-based reading in every Michigan classroom, including additional professional learning for teachers, we are equipping every educator to use the most effective strategies to improve student outcomes.
3) Extra help for students that need it. This includes more tutoring and small group support in class, over the summer, and in before- and after-school programs.
In Michigan, Reading Month doesn’t end in March. Let’s keep working around the clock to make sure Every Child Reads.
Sincerely,
 Keep Reading Going at Home
Every month is Reading Month, and together, we can keep building strong readers every day.
Here are a few simple ways families can keep reading alive:
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Make reading together a routine. Set aside 10-20 minutes each day, or a frequency that makes sense for your family, for reading. It can be before bed, after dinner, or anytime. Reading aloud and talking about the story helps build comprehension.
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Let kids choose what they read. Choice and discovery make reading fun and engaging. Visit your local library so they can pick out a free book and explore your library’s programs. Use https://milibraryfinder.org to find one of Michigan’s nearly 400 public libraries closest to you.
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Check out more tips on engaging in literacy as a family at MiLEAP’s website.
Boosting Literacy in Michigan
The Every Child Reads plan builds on my long-time commitment to strong public schools, excellent educators, and thriving students. Throughout my time in office, I have remained focused on bipartisan efforts to improve education access and outcomes.
We tripled the number of literacy coaches in Michigan schools. We delivered free breakfast and lunch for all 1.4 million public school students, saving parents almost a $1,000 a year per kid and time each morning. Earlier this year, I proposed making free breakfast and lunch permanent and signed a bipartisan law to reduce phone distractions in classrooms and improve focus. My 2027 budget recommendation includes the largest literacy investment in state history with our new Every Child Reads plan.
Today, over 6,000 educators have been trained in the intensive science of the reading program, LETRS. Through Every Child Reads plan, LETRS training would be offered to all educators. The plan emphasizes proven methods to give teachers the most effective, evidence-based tools to support their students. Every Child Reads would also help schools identify students who need additional support and provide those students with expanded learning opportunities in class, after school, before school, and over the summer.
Learn more at Michigan.gov/EveryChildReads.
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