Mission

Level Up Multiliteracy Foundation is a non-profit organization designed to target students of color and those who have missed out on vital experiences that help students relate to their common core curriculum. In an effort to bring forth representation and experiences through art, the foundation focuses on teaching through multiple modalities as many students have skills that are not supported in a typical learning environment. We aim to bring more students to view with their love for their identity through seeing positive images and representation but also learning about the rich history of their cultural contributions. Art has the propensity to raise interdisciplinary questions and has brought many connections to view even at the doctoral level.

As a special educator by trade, I am often in conversation about helping students reach the performance level of their typically developing peers. What that does is centralize general education as normal and special education as other when truly, we can all benefit from specialized education. “Level Up” was inspired by my father who always instilled academic confidence in me from a young age and it also speaks to meeting the student where they are at and helping them reach their goals apart from the regimented standards of “typical”. I believe this framework will help all student improve their academic skills and confidence a “level up”.

Upon entering Columbia University Teachers College for my PhD in Physical Disabilities and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education, I was deeply inspired by Dr. Ye Wang, my former graduate advisor who has since passed on. Her book, “Literate Thought and Multi Literacies” along with her lectures really challenged me to rethink disability. As individuals, our brains have so many varying pathways with different ways of processing information. To say literacy can only be reading and writing is to shut out so many populations who can not visually access information, can not fiscally access literary work, can not verbally articulate or write down what they’ve learned, or are not mentally, emotionally, or medically able to demonstrate understanding. Multi-Literacy is multiple literacies meaning there are many ways to demonstrate what we know and many ways to learn about it.

My art framework was inspired by my own love for art but also centralizing the Black and BIPOC community works as Kerry James Marshall mentions in an interview reviewing “SOB SOB” with the Smithsonian, the scale that determines what is “good” in the art world is based on Ancient Europeans. I find this same lens applied to education and teaching practices. I found my abilities reduced to my personality, demeanor, tone all of which have not inhibited my ability to reach all students but especially those in my own community.

I believe all students can benefit from a fun, visual, interactive, discussion-based holistic approach to making education personal and relevant to the community around your students