Pop Culture Classroom’s Director of Education, Illya Kowalchuk, M. Ed., is speaking at TEDxCU! As part of the event, Mr. Kowalchuk will give a must-see talk about PCC’s innovative program LEAD With Comics, a unique project that educates inmates at jails and prisons across Colorado to learn how to read and draw with the help of graphic novels. Comic books are an easy entry point into the vital world of reading. Time spent reading enjoyable material is crucial towards developing lifelong readers, be it for children in a traditional classroom or adults in detention centers.
As Mr. Kowalchuk will discuss, research shows students that aren’t given the opportunity to develop reading skills are more likely to end up in prison, and inmates who receive literacy education have a lower chance of reoffending. The LEAD With Comics eight-week course has found great success, and this TEDx talk will share how using graphic novels is a cool and creative way to engage all types of students; developing literacy skills and having the opportunity to create their own stories can help them find a positive way forward. “The inmates’ comic stories demonstrate just how powerful comic-book based education can be, and I couldn’t be more excited to share these tales at TEDx CU,” says Mr. Kowalchuk.
Join us on Saturday, April 15th at Old Main on the CU Boulder campus and listen to this thoughtful talk about a groundbreaking program!