Global Academy Launches Their New Multilingual Library

Engoma Fataki, the Swahili Family and Community Liaison at Global Academy

BeGreat Together awarded $10,000 to a school-nominated program, Kansas City Public Schools’ Global Academy, for the development of their new multilingual library. With this award, Global Academy purchased over 700 books to support students’ literacy and reading development efforts.

“Over 13 different languages are spoken by students here at Global Academy,” says Ryan Rumpf, principal of Global Academy. “With these new books, we can help students learn to read in their native languages, which can help them learn to read in English and develop their own literacy skills overall.”

Principal Rumpf purchased books in Spanish, Swahili, Farsi, Pashto, and several other languages. Additionally, he purchased electronic Pen Pal books that have an electronic voice assistant that reads lines from the text in multiple languages so students can follow along.

“Parents of students may not read or speak English, so if students can take books home that are written in their native languages, it is more likely that their parents will read along with them and assist with their assignments,” says Engoma Fataki, the Swahili Family and Community Liaison at Global Academy. “Our goal now is to let families know that this resource exists.”

Global Academy was nominated for this award by Kansas City school staff and administration. Each school program must meet the following requirements: each school initiative or program is within a K-12 public school with 80% or more minority student enrollment and nominations must be made by internal school staff or program leadership with a school email address.

“At BeGreat Together, we’re putting resources directly into the hands of K-12 public schools and Black and Latino institutions. People know what they need, we just have to listen and trust them,” says Avrell Stokes, President of BeGreat Together. “We support schools like Global Academy because we want to create fully inclusive learning environments for all students.”