SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (September 1, 2018) – Ventris Learning, LLC has reached agreement with author Michelle Belnavis to become the exclusive publisher of Koma Adekan, a culturally responsive family/community engagement professional development offering. Belnavis developed Koma Adekan to help teachers bridge culture, language and the love of literacy from home to school, and to ensure academic engagement and success for every student. The multi-year program incorporates an annual reading day that coincides with National African American Parent Involvement Day. Guest readers include friends, family and members from the community, who inspire, engage and motivate the students.
“Family engagement is an essential element of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, and we are very pleased to be able to publish Koma Adekan nationally”, said Robert Meyer, Ventris president. “Michelle’s 25 years of elementary teaching experience, and passion for literacy enabled her to create this wonderfully comprehensive program”.
“Time and time again, research supports parental engagement as a viable means of enhancing children’s academic success”, said Belnavis. “Koma Adekan is an event that brings African American community leaders, families, staff, students and neighborhood organizations together, to provide inspiration , information and motivation for success to schools and neighborhoods.”
About Koma Adekan
Koma Adekan facilitates parent engagement, family and community participation along with the study of culturally responsive texts that teach African American values, culture, and history. The name Koma Adekan, the “heart of reading”, originates from the Twi language. Ventris Learning is in the process of creating Si Se Puede, a Latino edition of this offering.
About Ventris Learning
Ventris Learning’s language development resources support teachers to better meet the instructional needs of students underserved in literacy. Its offerings include ToggleTalk® contrastive analysis K-1 supplemental curriculum; Code Switching Lessons, a professional development offering for grades 2-6+ English Language Arts teachers; the Sunform™ Alphabet System; and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variance™ (DELV).
