SHARP Literacy Inc.
750 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr., Suite 311, Milwaukee
Industry: Nonprofit
Innovation: Developed The Eight Building Blocks of SHARP, combining art and literacy to enhance the reading and writing skills of first through fifth grade students
In the cavernous lobby at the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center, a wall-sized mural shows a glimmering display of patriotic American images. There is the Statue of Liberty, fireworks, a rocket, a bald eagle, and a single word embedded in a waving American flag: Freedom.
The word “freedom” is one most adults understand, but for at-risk and low-income youth, it can be difficult to grasp its full meaning simply by a teacher defining the word. To better understand the meaning of many words, these students have to see it, they have to create it. SHARP Literacy is helping children do both.
SHARP Literacy combines art and literacy to enhance the reading and writing skills of first through fifth grade students. The “Freedom” mural was a collaborative project with the organization’s students who were learning about the word.
Art is a key strategy to understanding literacy, especially for children who are not exposed to particular aspects of culture and language, said the organization’s founder and executive director Marilyn Doerr-Kreilkamp.
“For some children it is difficult to understand the words: ‘urban,’ ‘rural’ or ‘agriculture,'” Doerr-Kreikamp said. “With visual connections (the words) become very clear. It opens the world for these children.”
Doerr-Kreilkamp was a docent at the Milwaukee Art Museum when she says she noticed how excited and engaged students became with the art. Knowing there was a disparity in their literary skills she went to the museum for permission to launch a pilot program combining the two. She later chose to run the non-profit on her own.
The program improves the literacy rates of students 40 to 70 percent and has served more than 50,000 students in 32 schools around the city of Milwaukee since 1996.
“The retention has been amazing,” Doerr-Kreilkamp said. “It has encouraged me to keep going.”
