How reading is building confidence for students at South LA school

LOS ANGELES - For students at St. Aloysius Gonzaga School in South Los Angeles, a book can be much more than words on a page. It can build confidence, spark curiosity and open the door to a world they may have never imagined.

Just ask student Natalia Perez.

"Reading is very important to me because if I didn’t read, then I wouldn’t have my imagination," Natalia said. "I like to read a lot of storybooks which give me the visual of a world that don’t exist."

Her classmate Olivia Ayala has seen her own reading skills improve.

"I got better at reading because reading is really fun and I’ve been practicing at my house," Olivia said.

For Michael Ruiz, reading more has translated into something else: confidence.

"I feel more confident because of how much I’ve read more," Michael said. "It makes me feel confident to stand up and, like, not get the wording wrong."

Building a foundation through literacy

For educators at St. Aloysius Gonzaga, those seemingly small victories are part of something much bigger.

Teacher Jessica Figueroa has spent 20 years in the classroom and says literacy is crucial to creating the foundation children need to continue learning.

"The ability to read — not just the ability, but the desire to read — it fills you up with a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity about more than what is in front of you," Figueroa said.

But she says educators are also confronting new challenges as they work to foster that love of reading.

"I feel that as a society, we have lost that connection to books and to literacy," Figueroa said. "So much content is delivered to children visually and through audio, video, all kinds of reels and algorithms and auto plays."

Figueroa says those challenges can be compounded in inner-city communities by work demands and differing family circumstances, which can make establishing a strong literacy foundation more difficult for some children.

At St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Principal Laura Paz says the school is determined to build that foundation before students move on to the next chapter of their education.

"We’re setting that foundation for them," Paz said. "So when they go out there after St. Aloysius, they are going to be successful because we are building it up here."

That effort extends beyond teachers.

"We welcome our parents and families to teach them how to be those literacy partners at home," Paz said, pointing to literacy nights and other events the school holds for families.

Gordon Philanthropies puts books into children’s hands

Gordon Philanthropies is working alongside schools and communities to address some of those barriers by increasing children’s access to books.

Since 2021, the organization says it has distributed more than one million books across California, including more than half a million through school literacy programs.

Daniel Gordon says the initiative is rooted in a belief that a child’s community or economic circumstances should not determine the educational opportunities available to them.

"We wanted to create opportunities for students, regardless of where they lived, regardless of their economic situation, to be able to learn, to support what was going on in their learning experience so that they could have better opportunities for their future," Gordon said.

For Gordon, the book distributions are part of a broader mission centered on education and opportunity.

"We’re here to basically give our children better opportunities and a better life than we have," Gordon said. "It’s the same reason our parents wanted us to have a better life and better opportunities than they did."

Gordon says ensuring children have access to a quality education is fundamental to creating those opportunities.

"It all basically comes back to ensuring that every child has access to a quality education," he said.

He also points to the challenges teachers face when resources don’t always make their way into classrooms.

"We’re not giving teachers the resources that they need to teach," Gordon said. "We have teachers who work so hard to educate their students and yet they have to go out of pocket to buy school supplies."

Gordon says his organization’s approach is to partner directly with schools and educators who understand the needs of their students and communities.

Parents see the difference

For parents at St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the importance of literacy becomes especially clear when they see their children putting those skills into action.

Martha Gonzalez remembers watching her daughter stand in front of the parish and school community to read during Mass.

"I was so proud of her," Gonzalez said. "She was so brave, she was so confident."

Gonzalez says the transformation has been striking.

"Her confidence has just, from the beginning of the school year to now — it’s a different child, different child," she said.

Her daughter’s experience is especially meaningful because Gonzalez remembers not having the same opportunities as a child.

"As a child, I wasn’t given that opportunity because my parents, there was a language barrier," Gonzalez said. "If I could stress to another parent the importance of it, reading every day is so important."

Parent Minette Gutierrez says she understands how difficult it can be for busy families to carve out additional reading time, but believes even a small commitment can make a difference.

"I think sacrificing 30 minutes a day, at least, to grab a book and read with them, whether you have them read it to you or you read it to them, it makes such a difference," Gutierrez said. "It’s going to help them build their confidence, it’s going to help them grow academically."

Gutierrez has watched that confidence develop in her own son, who was selected to read during a family Mass.

"To see him so little, read so clear and loud and not make any mistakes, I told my husband, we did the right choice," she said. "Look at him, he’s thriving and he’s gonna be so much further than what we were."

For the educators, families and organizations involved, the goal is ultimately the same: giving children the tools they need to succeed.

And for the students at St. Aloysius Gonzaga, that journey can begin with something as simple as opening a book.