Today we’d like to introduce you to Delilah Gonzales.
Delilah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Early literacy and language development is dear to my heart. I am originally from Somerville, Tennessee.- a very small town. I believe this is when I fell in love with reading at Fayette County Public Library! I cherished books because they could take you to a different place.
My grandparents were a major part of Tent City in Fayette County, Tennessee, during the ’60s. My grandfather’s land was part of the Tent City land used for evicted sharecroppers to live on when they registered to vote. I would hear stories of how we are obligated to help our fellow man. I think because of my background from a small rural town, I operate under the belief system, “Educators are required to reform to the needs of their students; students are not required to reform to educators.” I believe educators and families must implement developmentally appropriate, research-sound, culturally relevant practices to build early childhood literacy learners.
I have worked in early literacy education for over thirty years in different areas, including as a national speaker, elementary teacher, elementary principal, and college professor. Hence, I bring a mixture of being a practitioner and researcher to the table.
I taught in my hometown at my elementary school my first year as an educator. Later I taught at University of Memphis, where I received my master’s and doctoral degrees. It was amazing! Both experiences gave me an opportunity to give back what I received. I believe this was a path to my next chapter in education.
In 2020, I founded the Emerging Learners Literacy Foundation. The mission of the Emerging Learning Literacy Foundation (ELLF) is to promote the advancement of the early childhood literacy learner, educator, family, and community stakeholders through language and literacy development, social and emotional learning, cultural awareness, and community networking.
Through my work with ELLF and our Project Bold program, I am is committed to putting books in the hands of little humans- one book at a time.
Recent Gallup Data reported 1 in 3 adults is functionally illiterate in our community 41% of our community children do not have the prerequisite skills needed to enter kindergarten ready to learn the skills to read 73% of our community 3rd graders don’t read at grade level. I believe early childhood families are the solution to this crisis. It is widely recognized that home library can assist with the reversal those numbers. It is through Project BOLD we work with families to build home libraries and increase literacy activities in the home.
As the executive board director, I look forward to the challenge of “effectively producing a successful child, rooted in a successful family, linking a successful home and which builds a successful community” by reaching one early childhood literacy learner, one family, one educator, and one stakeholder at a time.
In addition to my work at ELLF, I have worked with the National Literacy Institute as an early literacy consultant for over 20 years. I also am a tenured professor in the College of Education at Texas Southern University.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think the road to establishing a nonprofit can be very challenging. However, I am grateful to have an amazing board to support the work of ELLF. The community also has been very receptive to the mission of ELLF.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Emerging Learners Literacy Foundation?
The mission of Emerging Learners Literacy Foundation is to promote the advancement of the early childhood literacy learner, educator, family, and community stakeholders through language and literacy development, social and emotional learning, cultural awareness, and community networking. We believe in the importance of developing the early childhood literacy learner in a well-rounded wholeness. Our ultimate goal is to effectively produce a successful child rooted in a successful family, linking a successful home and which builds a successful community.
Emerging Learners Literacy Foundation (ELLF) is an educational nonprofit 501 (c) organization with a mandate to promote and support literacy development in the Houston Metro area. We do this through training, research and information sharing, resource development, and public awareness activities.
A large part of our work involves providing information, resources, and support to early childhood learners, literacy practitioners, early childhood educators, and other community stakeholders. Our service to the early literacy field include:
Resources and literacy support for early childhood learners and their families in the early literacy community.
Resource development for early childhood learners and their families.
Training and workshops for early childhood practitioners and early childhood families.
ELLF works with a variety of organizations, groups, and individuals in our efforts to promote and support oral language and literacy development. We have four major programs: Project BOLD, Our World Reading-In Chain, Emerging Literacy Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship, and New Teacher.
Literacy Grant.
One of our major programs at ELLF is Project BOLD. (i.e., The ELLF Literacy Box, Oral
Language Development, Literacy Development, and Developmentally Appropriate Practices) Project BOLD is a home literacy program designed to address the oral language and literacy development needs of early childhood learners in the Houston Metro area. Each month the family will receive an ELLF box with children reading books and literacy material, which parents can use to help build oral language and literacy skills. Additionally, parents can attend literacy workshops to build their ability to help their children at home.
The intent of Our World Read-In Chain literacy campaign is to popularize reading as an essential, fun, and productive practice that lasts a lifetime. Our World Read-In Chain has proved to be especially beneficial for encouraging young children and youth to make reading a life-long, life-enriching practice. Our World Read-In Chain provides culturally diverse books and programming to the metro Houston elementary schools, families, and youth organizations. This program is an ongoing project.
Emerging Literacy Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship is awarded yearly to graduate students enrolled in a literacy advanced program who plan to work in the area of early literacy. New Teacher Literacy Grant is awarded yearly to teachers who graduated within one year from an accredited college or university and will work in the elementary setting teaching reading.
Additionally, all recipients receive a set of culturally diverse classroom books.
We are currently planning for our 3rd Annual Mindful Dinner. and Music Experience. This along with our golf tournament, supports the work of ELLF.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
I believe in life, you must take risk. Working to fulfill the mission and vision of ELLF is a risk because we are a nonprofit. However, I believe we are obligated to be service leaders.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emerginglearnersliteracyfoundation.org/
- Instagram: emerging_learners_literacy
- Facebook: ELLF.READ/
