Over the last few decades, researchers have seen a correlation between children who are reading proficiently by the third grade and their future success. There’s a shift in the third grade where students are no longer learning to read, but reading to learn. Children who read proficiently by third grade are more likely to succeed in school and beyond, while those who struggle face higher risks of dropping out and earning lower incomes. Locally, third-grade reading proficiency rates in many Franklin County schools fell below 75%, worsening after the pandemic. To address this, the Charleys Kids Foundation dedicates a large portion of its resources to tutoring and supporting Columbus City Schools students.
The Charleys Kids Foundation was founded by Charley Shin, CEO of Charleys Cheesesteaks. Shin’s Gosh Enterprises has Charleys Cheesesteak restaurants in over 850 locations worldwide, over 60 BIBIBOP Asian Grill restaurants and around 70 locations of Lennys Grill & Subs, a sandwich chain located primarily in the south. Shin began his first restaurant in the 1980s when he was a student at OSU. When Charley traveled overseas for Christian missions work, his heart broke for the underprivileged children he encountered. Whether orphans in Peru or Cambodia, or Columbus City School students who aren’t reaching their reading goals, Charley desired to leverage the profits from his restaurants to serve the children’s needs.
The Charleys Kids Foundation aims to “strengthen communities worldwide by partnering with local programs that provide children with the critical resources to succeed through a trifold focus on education, mentorship, and healthy food.” Although the foundation supports 52 organizations nationally and internationally, Executive Director Bradley Harris emphasizes that their tutoring initiative is a main focus right now. Teachers identify the students in need of help, and Charleys Kids recruits tutors from churches and businesses, trains them, and connects them to a local public school. The tutors commit to one hour a week for the length of the school year, working with schools to improve reading skills and building long-term relationships. All of the background checks and training are completely free of charge for the tutors, so the only cost for them is their time. Each school needs at least three tutors in order to start a program.
Harris states that the program currently has 170 tutors serving in 23 of Columbus’ city schools. However, he could use 1,000 more tutors right now! In fact, that number of tutors would be sufficient to meet the current needs of our city’s under-resourced students.
An additional strength of the Charleys Kids tutoring initiative is the community that has been formed between the tutors, their students, and the school administration. Harris notes that at first, the relationships are hesitant, but over time, the tutors demonstrate their reliability and the relationships strengthen. As school administrators begin to trust them and students begin to rely on them, the tutors also become a support system for the students and for one another, covering each other’s shifts and providing encouragement and advice.
This model demonstrates the importance of collaboration in our city. Instead of one entity or person forging the relationship with the school or student, there is a team who comes around them to provide support. That team might represent different churches or businesses coming together to serve the community’s children for a common goal. Collaboration also makes the tutoring initiative more stable, allowing different organizations to share in the adoption of a school and widening the pool of tutor recruitment. Mr. Harris has lived in Columbus for four years, and he sees the importance of churches learning to work together. “Collaboration in Columbus exists in pockets, but there is still deeper collaboration that is needed. I can say that in our work, we get to see these churches that work together for a community, and whether it's a one-off event or a sustained event, all come together to support the students of the elementary school.”
If you have a heart to help Columbus children learn to read, there are two ways you can help. Click here to sign up to be a tutor, or patronize a Charleys Cheesesteak restaurant and buy a combo meal. Ten cents of your purchase will go towards supporting the foundation!