City schools, YSU celebrate Project PASS partnership

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Two years ago, Youngstown City School District and Youngstown State University students teamed up to help improve the younger students’ reading and writing skills. Saturday, they’re teaming up again to celebrate that partnership.

About 130 city school second- and third-graders and their families, along with roughly 100 YSU students, will gather to cheer on the Penguins in Saturday’s game at Stambaugh Stadium. YSU President Jim Tressel organized the outing, and he and Krish Mohip, Youngstown schools chief executive officer, will join the game-day festivities.

Project PASS – Penguin Assistants for Student Success – matches city school second- and third-graders with students enrolled in YSU’s Beeghly College of Education. The YSU future educators tutor the younger students.

“The main goal of the program is to ensure that every second-grade student feels ready and confident to pass the state test, meeting the Third Grade Reading Guarantee,” said Timothy Filipovich, city schools executive director of teaching and learning.

The tutoring aims to increase reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary development and writing skills. It involves nearly 400 YSU students.

All of the Project PASS participants going to Saturday’s game should meet at 11:15 a.m. at McKay Auditorium in the Beeghly College of Education building to pick up tickets. Students from both entities will get a T-shirt as part of the event.

The game kicks off at noon. Free parking for participating city school district families will be available in Lot M-53, Rayen Avenue, across from Beeghly.