Raise Your Hand Tennessee was launched by United Ways of Tennessee as a statewide, collaborative effort to recruit volunteers to read, tutor, or mentor Tennessee’s children, both in school and in afterschool program settings. Every year since its inception, the program has recruited 5,000-6,000 volunteers for that purpose, with more than 40,000 recruited to-date.
With the launch of the Tennessee Afterschool Network, the scope of the initiative expanded with pilots and promotion of a broader range of strategies to improve reading, especially for students in K to 4thgrade.
For school and out-of-school programs: We share replicable best practices, tools, tactics, and other resources to build their capacity to improve reading skills.
For Volunteers: Anyone with passion and commitment can help our children and youth succeed in school and in life. Remember: the difference between a child graduating or becoming a drop-out could be YOU!
Raise Your Hand Tennessee is generously funded by grants from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the United Ways of Tennessee.
Learn more about this program: