“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

A Leap Learning Systems Publication

Table of Contents Words From our President 2 It Takes a Village 3 Wildcats on the Prowl at Leap 4 Preschool Scientist 5 Leap`s After School EnRichment Program 6 Language For Scholars 7 Leap Into Volunteering 8 Giving Back to Our Community 9

Features Dr. Lybolt has dinner with preschoolers at the An-nual Rush University Preschool Science Gala.

Northwestern graduates receive a special visit from alumnae Catherine Gottfred.

Another successful and impactful summer of Lan-guage for Scholars program-ming.

2010 Fall Newsletter—Leap Learning Systems 8 South Michigan Suite 812 Chicago, IL 60603 T: (312) 578-1255 www.leaplearningsystems.org

Our sincere thanks to the many contributors to this production including Nina Smith, La Tonia Wells, John Lybolt, Kate Gottfred, Aimee Adams, Courtney Horton, Angela Howard, Chris Hillcoat, Lindsey Holton, David Starr and Reggie Moore.

Meet Our Team

Catherine H. Gottfred, Ph.D., Founder

Angela Howard Roger Anderson Patty Pollina

John Lybolt, Ph.D. Curriculum Director

La Tonia Wells Jennifer Preschern Kaitlyn Petersen

Michael Levesque, Executive Director

Nina Smith Dalila Avila Juliane Culver

Elizabeth Condon Isabel Govea Jordan Fox Cari Shindler

Visit www.leaplearningsystems.org to learn more about our quality programs and amazing staff.

Julie Rosenthal

Sherry Gunn

Stephanie Bultinck

Bev Applebaum

Words From our President

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As another very successful summer ends, we are prepared for a new academic school year that will be full of enriched learning experiences and numerous opportu-nities to change the lives of students. Our batteries are recharged and we are excited about the future of teaching and learning. Teaching well is the goal and marching order. In the article, “The Joy and Responsi-bility of Teaching Well,” which can be found in the AHSA Leader, author L. D. Fink examines answers to some of the fundamental questions on how we as educators should approach our work. Although Dr. Fink focuses on educators in the college set-ting, we at Leap Learning Systems believe that his ideas and concepts can be applied to pre-Kindergarten and K-12 learning environments as well. Along with Dr. Fink’s ideas it is also evident to many that what the teacher says and how instruction is delivered has a huge impact on students. So our charge is to en-courage all educators to develop strong and effective oral language skills that sup-port student engagement and comprehension. Whether you are working with babies, elementary school students, teens or adults the principles of using sound language strategies remain consistent. Build associations between concepts and content, use open-ended questions, build new vocabulary, use student background knowledge, think out loud, and always reinforce sounds and letters. At Leap, we believe these strategies will make learning come easier for your students and you will become a successful teacher. Please enjoy our newsletter which highlights some of the innovative work we are do-ing with classroom teachers and afterschool educators to increase the language and literacy skills of students in under resourced neighborhoods. Remember WORDS ARE TOOLS.

Catherine H. Gottfred

Leap enjoys a reputation for being successful and effective in its programming efforts. But we know we are only as good as our partners. As a result of time and dedication to common ob-jectives - we have built partnerships that work. We commend and thank all of our partners that work tirelessly to enrich the lives and educational opportunities of students throughout Chicago.

It Takes A Village ...

Recent supporters include:

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WJ and JK Truettner Foundation Target The Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust The Siragusa Foundation US Bank William Blair & Co. Foundation $20,000 or more donors Stephen and Cynthia Elkins Richard and Katie Gottfred Scott and Mary Beth Kilrea

Gottfred Family Foundation Harry F. and Elaine Chaddick Foundation Health Education & Relief Foundation Irvin Stern Foundation Lloyd A. Fry Foundation Mary Alice Wheeler Fund at The Chi-cago Community Trust Max Goldenberg Foundation Modestus Bauer Foundation Polk Bros. Foundation Richard M. & Elizabeth M. Ross Foun-dation

Donor-Advised Fund at The Chicago Community Trust Bank of America Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL Boeing Employee Community Fund Burt Family Foundation Chicago White Sox Chicago Sun-Times Charity Trust Circle of Service Foundation Col. Stanley McNeil Foundation Glenview Community Church Google

Leap programs are made possible through the generous support of a wide variety of foundation, public , corporate and individual giving. Thank you to our funders that have made it possible for thousands of young students to gain access to high quality reading materials and literacy support; for teachers to have intense classroom coaching support; and for teens to gain critical 21st century skills that help make them more competitive in the classroom and, one day, in the board room.

Our goal is to fully acknowledge all donations and gifts. Please accept our deepest apologies, if we have omitted anyone from this list. For a complete listing go to www.leaplearningsystems.org

Wildcats on the Prowl at LEAP

This spring, leap founder, Catherine Gottfred, Ph.D. gave an inspi-rational speech to Northwestern’s graduating Masters students in the Communication Science and Disorders Department. “She challenged new graduates in the Speech and Language Pathology field to go above and beyond and contribute to every aspect of the field,” said graduate and new Leap team member, Nina Smith. “She also said that I would find the cure to dyslexia, so I have some work to do.”

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Northwestern students and alumni continue to give and contrib-ute to the mission of closing the education gap. Along with Dr. Gottfred, other Wildcats that are in on the action include John Lybolt, Ph.D., Jeri Logemann, Ph.D., Lorraine Cole, Ph.D., Reggie Moore, Jennifer Preschern, Nina Smith, Jordan Fox, Stephanie Bultinck, Aisha Smith, Mary Ann Goldberg and Courtney Horton. All are making great contributions to Leap`s

Building Language Throughout the Year: the Preschool Early Literacy Curriculum Leap Learning Systems' preschool curriculum is easily adaptable to any classroom but is best utilized when complimented with our Language Strategies training or participation in our Vocabulary Improvement Programs (VIP). For information on these or any Leap Learning Systems professional development program, contact Michael@leaplearningsystems.org. Order your copy of Building Language online today! Use code #AF67808 for a discount.

"An excellent resource for teachers who want to improve the quality of children's lan-guage-learning experiences in their classrooms." -Laura Justice

Preschool Scientist...

Dr. Lybolt provided the keynote address at the Rush University Preschool Science Annual Gala on May 6th this spring. This gathering celebrates the outreach efforts of Rush to preschool classrooms at 16 Chicago Public Schools. "Best preschool scientists" from each classroom and their parents attend an awards ceremony to recognize and celebrate the efforts of teachers, chil-dren, and parents to further science education. Children in their 'Benefit Best' outfits, walk to the stage to receive their awards. Proud parents video, photo-graph and applaud this walk to achievement. Dr. Lybolt was herald by much laughter as he demonstrated the sci-ence of balloon releases, box stacking and paper airplane flights in and over the crowd. Children and parents agreed that science for preschoolers can be found in the simple, fa-miliar and sometimes messy sugar cubes, drinking straws and ketchup bottles.

“Being ‘scientific’ involves being curious, observing, asking how things happen, and learning how to find the an-swers.” (Helping Your Child Learn About Science. Department of Education, 2005)

Language Through Science (LTS)

LTS is an innovative professional development program for Pre-K and K teachers and is implemented by highly skilled Leap Professional Development Coaches. The LTS curriculum, science lesson plans and related activities are designed for the classroom teacher that work with students that can benefit from a well structured approach to language development.

Over the past five years our proven model of small group professional development combined with in-classroom coaching has been a success for hundreds of teachers and thousands of students. Using this program teachers will learn language development techniques that will help them systematically increase the oral language skills of their students. LTS is research based, field tested and teacher approved!

For information on how to bring LTS to your classroom or childcare center contact us at (312) 578-1255 or visit our website at www.leaplearningsystems.org

Past program partners include Jenner Academy, Depreist Elementary, and Kellman School, just to name a few. The development and expansion of LTS has been made possible through the generous support of funders such as the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust, Polk Bros. Foundation, and the Boeing Employee Community Fund, just to name a few.

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Due to the lack of reading, "The majority of young Americans will not see their indi-vidual, economic, or social potential," Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. www.richlandchronicle.com 2007 Throughout Chicago there are many schools that collaborate with high qual-ity after school partners to combat the rapidly declining reading skills of stu-dents. And those organizations turn to professionals like Leap Learning Systems for curriculum and staff training. A Solution to Reading Enrichment LASER is Leap Learning Systems’ after-school curriculum and on-site professional develop-ment program uniquely designed to be implemented by non-educators. By using LASER your staff planning time is significantly reduced, provides a consistent format, includes assessment tools for students and staff.

An Approach that gets Results LASER can be used for struggling readers and those that want to provide a fun academic enrichment component to their pro-gram. All good readers must have a strong foundation and comfort level with certain key language & literacy skills. Thus we focus on the four fundamental areas necessary for school success: 1) reading decoding skills, 2) reading comprehension, 3) oral language skills, and 4) writing skills.

Contact us today to learn how Leap can help your afterschool program have a greater impact. Www.leaplearningsystems.org or call 312-578-1255.

Leap’s After-School EnRichment Program LASER

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“I appreciate the training, as well as the on-site visits. The learning, teaching and help were of value”

Laura Coonrod, Afterschool Program Leader

“The students learned that it is important to pay attention to the pictures and the rhyming pattern while reading a story as a means to predicting novel words or even just the subsequent events in a poem or story.” Christine A. Deyerler, Afterschool Program Leader

Language For Scholars

This summer LFS reached over 685 middle and high school students. Participating partners included University of Chi-cago’s Collegiate Scholars, Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, Chicago International Charter School , Link Unlimited, Net-work for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Metro Squash, Urban Prep, Youth Crossroads and Ariel Community Academy.

We are excited about our new LFS partners this fall: • Chicago Public Schools: Washington High School,

Gwendolyn Brooks High School, • After School Matters– Austin Campus

“It could benefit me in the classroom by making me appear smarter and more confident. It will show the teachers that I am a good student.”

- Daniel Murphy Scholar

“It will make it easier for people to understand me

and project a better impression of my

academic abilities.” - Collegiate Scholars

Student

“It will benefit me in the classroom by showing the teacher how serious I am about learning.” - Link Unlimited Scholar

“Educators, business leaders and policy makers are all talk-ing about the importance of students developing 21st century skills—which includes the ability to effectively communicate” commented Michael Levesque during a recent speech at Chi-cago State University. Language for Scholars (LFS) teaches the use of Academic English as a tool to help stu-dents communicate effectively with a variety of audiences. LFS is consistently rated as one the best academic enrichment programs by students and educators. Through a process of intense practice during workshops and receiving real time professional feedback from Leap staff — students signifi-cantly improve their ability to present their ideas in an organ-ized way, make presentations in front of a large group, and prepare for higher level academic engagement.

“I concur with the student assessment-Language for Scholars is a dynamic pro-gram which meets a very specific need for our young students.” -Meghan Schmidt, CICS

This year, our dedicated volunteers have contributed over 100 hours to Leap, and the year isn’t quite over yet! We would not be able to do all of the work we do nor reach as many educators, students and their families as we do without the help of our volunteers. Our volunteers come from all walks of life and many, many educational

and professional backgrounds including US Bank, The Private Bank, William Blair & Co., DePaul University, City of Chicago, Cornell University, Ariel School, Boeing, Rush University, Elmhurst College and North-western University, just to name a few. Whether you are volunteering for school credits or personal growth, Leap is a great way to build skills, and we’d love to have you!

Visit our website and fill out an application today! www.leaplearningsystems.org

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Teaching

Caring Sharing Giving Amazing

Helping

Generous

Mentoring

Learning Awesome Passionate

Kind

Ambitious

Hardworking

LEAP INTO VOLUNTEERING!

June 8 Language For Scholars Presentations-Adult GED Program

June 14 Language For Scholars Production Day Program– Collegiate Scholars

June 21-23 Language For Scholars - Collegiate Schol-ars

June 28-July2 Language For Scholars– Daniel Murphy Scholars Fund (Group 1)

July 26- July 30 Language For Scholars– Daniel Murphy Scholars Fund (Group 2)

August 2 -5 Language For Scholars– Link Unlimited

August 10-11 Language For Scholars Family and Friends

Summer Happenings Fall Events September 3 StarNet Presentation - Phonemic

Awareness

September 24 StarNet Presentation– Play and Emergent Literacy

October 8 Catherine Gottfred will be the recipi-ent of the Alumni of the Year Award at Northwestern University

October– Novem-ber

Language For Scholars will emerge with Chicago Public Schools/NFTE Classrooms

“Leap was a perfect fit. I am going to school to be a Speech Language Pathologist. Leap has opened my eyes to a new experience and a new aspect that could possibly be my future one day.” -Nadine Portera Elmhurst College

Graduate Student

Giving Back to Our Community Leap Learning Systems, much like the fabled small engine in the storybook The Little Engine that Could has pushed through with unyielding optimism and hard work. This past year has been tough for education and community based organizations that serve our students and teachers who are most in need of support. Donations from indi-viduals and foundations were down, and several program partners either reduced ser-vices or could not continue at all. However, with a dedicated staff and a disciplined ap-proach to program operations the team at Leap has been able to get things done with less. With generous support from dozens of volunteers we were able to extend our manpower and through the ongoing financial support from organizations like the Burt Family Foundation, The Chaddick Foundation, The Siragusa Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Boeing Employee Community Fund, Kilrea Family Foundation and the Gottfred Family Foundation to name a few, Leap Learning Systems was able to share its innovative programs with teachers and students at several Chicago Public Schools, charter schools and community based organizations.

There are many worthy causes and organizations to give of your time and financial sup-port. We strive to be the absolute best stewards of every dollar received. Help us con-tinue to bring the highest quality programs to all schools and community based agencies that otherwise would not be able to afford them. A donation of any size to Leap is an investment in the community and the future. Join the list of outstanding individuals, foundations and business that have helped to keep Leap Learning Systems programs affordable to the teachers, students and families who need them the most. Donate on-line at www.leaplearingsystems.org/doante or by mail to: Leap Learning Systems 8 South Michigan, Suite 812 Chicago, IL 60603 Board of Directors Reggie Moore Josh Aldort, J.D. Richard Gottfred Chris Hillcoat Catherine H. Gottfred, Ph.D. Russ Campion Pamela Daniels-Halisi Lorraine Cole, Ph.D. Charlie Burt Cynthia Elkins Lindsey Holton Scott Kilrea Jeri Logemann, Ph.D. Loida Rosario Linda Tarrson

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Please Give: $50 * $100 * $250 * $500 * $1000