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ITC Supports InsideOut Literary Arts Project

At Roberto Clemente Learning Academy, a Detroit Public School on Detroit’s south side, three third grade classes celebrated the work they have accomplished throughout the year working with INSIDEOUT, a literary arts program. At this year-end celebration the students were overjoyed to receive a book made up of poems they have written this past year, reflect on the year, and share their work with their peers, teachers and parents.

InsideOut leverages language and poetry to connect Detroit’s youth to their resiliency while increasing student reading and writing skills. They dispatch some of metro Detroit’s most accomplished writers into classrooms across the region to inspire students to become more confident and enthusiastic readers and writers.

InsideOut, with support from ITC’s Charitable Giving Program, was able to send writers to Roberto Clemente Learning Academy and Schulze Elementary during the 2017-2018 school year. ITC’s funding enabled InsideOut to provide arts-infused writing workshops to around 300 students at these two Detroit Public Schools that currently have little or no cultural arts programming.

“Students indicate that the program has improved their writing skills and their ability to express their feelings, deal with stress, understand themselves, and connect with others. We are so grateful for ITC’s grant that was able to provide these schools with our robust educational and cultural programming” says Peter Markus, senior writer with InsideOut.

InsideOut has taken issues they have seen in the community with Detroit youth and have used it as a motive to drive their efforts and make an impact. Only 35% of Detroit’s third graders scored “proficient” in reading on standardized reading tests. A teacher who’s been working with InsideOut for several years said, “Underserved children show the most growth in literacy when reading and writing instruction encourages them to develop their own individual voices.”

ITC’s continuing commitment to the community has enabled us to connect with the youth and schools in Detroit, and we are proud to support such an inspiring and impactful program.

The ITC Charitable Giving Program

The ITC Charitable Giving Program focuses on five key areas to help strengthen our communities and reflect the values of ITC. Those include education, environmental stewardship, social services, health & wellness and arts & culture.

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