Reading Starts Here

K-3 Literacy at Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Oregon

Every kindergarten through third grade member is assessed 2-3x/year. Kids who need a boost get small-group reading instruction, twice a week, from a dedicated literacy interventionist, right here after school. No extra cost. No extra pickup.

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Third grade changes everything

"Third grade is the year where you go from learning to read to reading to learn," says Beth Mishler, our K-3 Literacy Interventionist. "Any kid may fall behind in all subjects, including math, if reading isn't solid by third grade."

In Oregon, only about 4 in 10 third graders read at grade level.* Kids who fall behind early rarely catch up on their own, because a classroom of 25 doesn't have the time or the staffing to give one child the one-on-one attention it takes.

That's the gap this program fills.

How it works

Every K-3 kid is assessed. During the first week of the school year, in January, and again, in the first week of summer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Oregon k-3 literacy interventionist will assess every kindergarten through third grade member to see exactly where they are with letters, sounds, and reading.

Small groups, real instruction. Kids reading below grade level work with our k-3 literacy interventionist in groups of three or four, twice a week, for an hour each time. We tailor our instruction to meet the needs of each individual child.

Kindergarten and first grade get a head start. Every K and first grade member gets short whole-group literacy lessons, whatever their level.

Built on play. Magnet letters. Word-mapping boards. Handmade story books written around whatever a child loves most. Sight-word races with a stopwatch that kids beg to run again. Children choose the order of the day and the book they read.

Research-based. Instruction follows a structured, research-based phonics curriculum based on the Science of Reading. We help children k-3 build foundational decoding, encoding, and literacy skills.

"Once children start to learn to read, they gain confidence and get excited to learn more. " Beth says.

Meet Beth

Beth Mishler, K-3 Literacy Interventionist

Beth is the reason a kid at the Club who says "I can't read" ends up asking "can I do another word?"

She came to literacy through Teach for America in its earliest years, teaching special education in the Arkansas Delta, followed by a Master's degree focused on working with neurodivergent kids on language, play, and reading. She has worked with kids with ADHD and reading challenges like dyslexia.

"All kids want to learn," Beth says. "You just have to find a way to make it fun."

The results

[XX] K-3 members assessed in 2026
[XX] kids in small-group instruction across our Downtown Bend, East Bend. With La Pine opening September 2026, we are looking forward to including those students through the 26/27 afterschool program.

For parents: reading starts before kindergarten

By the first day of kindergarten, the goal is simple: your child knows their letters and is starting to connect letters to sounds. It doesn't take flashcards or sit-down time. Here are some fun ideas to try:

Letters everywhere. Cereal boxes, street signs, the mail. "Can you find an A?"

Letter of the day. Everything today starts with K. Find five things.

I Spy, with sounds. "I spy something that starts with G." Waiting for the bus: "Think of a color that starts with B."

Scavenger hunts. Sticky notes with single words, building up to sentences. A small prize at the end.

Play the games. Sight Word Swat, fishing for sight words, Zingo, popcorn sight words. Ten minutes, and let them win.

Free download coming soon: "Reading Starts Before Kindergarten," Beth's one-page guide for families.

Help more local kids learn to read

This program exists because of a grant and the generosity of local donors. Your gift keeps a literacy interventionist in our Clubs, stocks the shelves with books and learning games, and makes sure a kid who is behind in September isn't still behind in June.

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Questions about the literacy program? Contact us at info@bgcco.org or (541) 617-2877.

* Oregon Department of Education, 2024–25 statewide assessment: 40.3% of third graders proficient in English Language Arts.