Community Link: Rise Indy INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Each week on Community Link, Carolene Mays takes a look at an organization or business that is making a positive impact on the community. This week, Mays was joined by Jasmin Shaheed-Young, president and CEO of RISE INDY. Working to make sure every child has access to a high-quality education, RISE INDY focuses on improving educational equity and community engagement. Shaheed-Young says educational equity is at the heart of RISE INDY’s mission. “We believe that we exist to really serve students,” she explained. “We believe every student requires and deserve tools, resources, and education champions that allow them to reach any opportunity. And when we say every student at RISE, we mean every student – regardless of race, ZIP code, neurodivergence. Every student should be prioritized in that and ensuring they are prepared.” Shaheed-Young also explains what she believes are major challenges in public education, including politics, literacy gaps, the teacher shortage, and transportation. Speaking on literacy in Indianapolis, she said, “We have a number of students that have seen an increase in IREAD scores. We saw this last spring that we are back to pre-pandemic levels, so, that’s a bright spot. “And we also then look across to the ILEARN test in English/Language Arts. We still have a number of third through eighth graders that are not passing state assessment tests. That’s so important – that third-grade reading, moving from learning to read to reading to learn. We want to make sure that students are really prepared to be able to (move) through the K-12 system and know how to read.” RISE INDY offers several programs to assist with literacy skills, including Freedom Readers, which helps parents learn how to teach their kids about literacy. “Science of reading became a really big buzzword over the last seven years and we want parents to know what that means,” she said. “We break that down for parents so they’re able to help their kids at home.” RISE also runs a fellowship for parents or caregivers interested in being in education in some capacity, like becoming a pre-K assistants, teaching assistants, teaching aides. Shaheed-Young says the fellowship addresses the teacher shortage in Indiana and encourages families to be engaged in education. To learn more about RISE INDY, visit their website, and watch the interview above. ...read more read less