South Dakota
South Dakota schools are working to drive literacy rates back up
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) – South Dakota ranks 11th in the nation in literacy rates; that high ranking may not last. Post-pandemic, rates continue to drop.
According to the National Literacy Institute, illiteracy has become so prevalent that 130 million Americans cannot read a simple story to their children. Reading is the backbone of anything that you want to do in life. Kids who struggle to read not only fall behind in school but can also fall behind emotionally and socially as well.
“So, if you’re not reading well, you start to look around and think ‘Why is this so hard for me when that person over there, my friend, is done way ahead of me.’ So, then it starts to really work on a child’s sense of who they are,” says Coralee Alley, a school psychologist.
Kids who continue to struggle will eventually find other ways to survive, which can cause disturbances and anxious behavior.
“A lot of times when reading is a struggle day after day, about middle school, you can start to see, or earlier, some really more interfering behaviors,” Alley continues.
South Dakota maintains a high national reading average but after the pandemic, schools have noticed a steady drop in reading rates. Now, kids reading at basic levels are seen reading at below-basic levels.
To combat this, kids are now getting ahead by starting to read earlier.
“We start with early literacy, and we offer story times that engage the kids with songs, puppets, and a variety of stories with various themes. We also offer reading initiatives where it motivates kids to read at home and we make these custom tracking charts like a thousand books before kindergarten. Summer and winter reading, and they get proud tracking their accomplishments and turning them in for prizes, Laurinda Tapper from the Rapid City Public Library explains.
There are 5 major steps kids should take when it comes to mastering reading: language development, comprehension, phonemic awareness, phonics, and application
A major way to help your child get better at reading is simply by reading to them. Having physical books in the area can impact a child’s reading ability.
“Kids model behavior, right? They model their peers’ behavior; they model the adults’. Kids who live in homes where books are laid out say they see people reading, are like 60% more likely to be a good reader as they get older,” Alley concludes.
It is important to know what is behind the child’s difficulty, to take the right steps to get them into reading.
“The most important thing besides finding what interests them is to read at the right level. So, if they are reading something too easy, they are not going to grow in their literacy, but if they read something too difficult it’s going to discourage reading,” says Tapper.
House Bill 1022 would provide the South Dakota Department of Education with $6 million for a four-year statewide teacher training effort in the science of reading (SOR), an intensive approach to reading instruction at the elementary level that relies in part on phonics, or using sounds within words rather than letters to help children read.
Copyright 2024 KEVN. All rights reserved.
South Dakota
The Salvation Army of Aberdeen, South Dakota, starts Red Bucket campaign in mid-November
The Salvation Army’s relationship to Christmastime goes back more than a century. This holiday season, the charitable organization will be out in Hub City beginning on Nov. 14, where residents can see the familiar red kettle street campaign around the area.
Last year, the Salvation Army of Aberdeen raised nearly $129,000 during several hundred hours of volunteer work. Captain Joseph Hixenbaugh says the group has new goals for 2025 and is aiming to raise more than $121,000 and hopes for about 1,400 cumulative hours of volunteering.
These funds help the Salvation Army continue to provide essential services to families and individuals in need across the local community during the season of giving, as well as beyond.
Some of the important items the Salvation Army provides with the money received include food boxes, backpacks, lodging, prescriptions, transportation, rent and utility assistance. This year, its leadership told the Aberdeen News the local Salvation Army seeks “food and volunteers to fill the many hours of time this Christmas.”
Hixenbaugh and his wife, Kendra, are new administrators for the Salvation Army of Aberdeen. They began here this autumn after previously working in Indiana.
Hixenbaugh says it is simple to become a volunteer. Interested parties can go to registertoring.com and type in the zip code 57401.
As a whole, the Salvation Army plans to bring hope and joy to those who may be struggling during the upcoming holiday season. The bell ringing around Hub City concludes on Christmas Eve.
What are SNAP benefits and what happens during a shutdown?
SNAP helps 41.7M Americans afford food, but a shutdown could halt benefits starting November 1.
With the status of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in flux, food banks in the Sioux Falls area are gearing up for the possibility that they may be more crucial than ever.
On the afternoon of Oct. 31, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to continue providing the benefits using contingency funds and asked them to report on Nov. 3 about the progress made toward distribution.
Here’s a look at some local options for hunger relief.
Feeding South Dakota
The statewide nonprofit allows you to enter your location and find hunger relief, ranging from mobile food distribution or programs aimed specifically at children or seniors. The organization is also urgently seeking donations as the effects of the government shutdown continue. Call 605-335-0364 for assistance or email info@feedingsouthdakota.org.
Helpline Center
The organization maintains “food calendars” that list where food giveaways can be found.
The Salvation Army
The organization’s emergency food pantry is open on weekdays 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m.
Faith Temple Food Giveaway
The organization gives away food on most Fridays between 4-6 p.m. at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds.
Food to You
Charis Ministry Partners distributes food on Thursdays at a rotating list of locations. Doors open at 5 p.m. and food is distributed 6-7 p.m.
- First Thursday: East Side Lutheran Church, 1300 E. 10th St.
- Second Thursday: Messiah New Hope Church, 5001 E. Madison St.
- Third Thursday: Augustana Lutheran Church, 235 North Prairie Avenue
- Fourth Thursday: St. John Lutheran Church, 1912 W. 13th St.
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