Elmhurst University student wins Phi Kappa Phi grant to support York literacy project

Elmhurst University student Allison Skiple was recently awarded a 2022 literacy grant from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

A rising senior from Des Plaines, Skiple was one of only 13 applicants nationwide to receive the award. The $2,500 grant will be used to support the York Literacy Project, a collaborative project between Elmhurst University's Service Learning Program and the York Community Resource Center in Lombard.

The York Literacy Project aims to foster literacy skills, including reading, writing, spelling and comprehension, among underserved elementary students at the York Community Resource Center.

The project connects after-school students at the resource center with Elmhurst University students majoring in communication sciences and disorders and/or Spanish.

The Elmhurst students are tutors whose emphasis is on biliteracy and biculturalism. The literacy grant will be used to purchase new books, supplies and supports to continue strengthening all aspects of literacy.

"I am so grateful to have received this grant," said Skiple, who is majoring in communication sciences and disorders. "I am so excited to watch the children I serve blossom and grow as readers and writers. My mission is to inspire and develop the leaders of tomorrow by helping them build their confidence and understand all they can offer to the world."

Skiple is a 2022 inductee to Elmhurst University's Phi Kappa Phi chapter.

Her efforts to seek educational funding embody the honor society's mission, "to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education, and engage the community of scholars in service to others," said Ayanna Brown, an associate professor of education at Elmhurst University who also is president of Elmhurst's Phi Kappa Phi chapter.