Why Community, Identity, and Representation Matter in Literacy—and What Educators and Families Should Know

In this inspiring episode, Malik Champlain shares how a deeply personal experience as a father grew into Pages with Pops, a community-driven literacy initiative designed to engage fathers and father figures in their children’s reading journeys. Through powerful reflections on identity, belonging, and representation, Malik explores how literacy extends beyond skill-building to shape confidence, connection, and self-worth. His insights offer educators and families a compelling look at how aligning schools, families, and community partners can transform literacy into a joyful, relational experience—one that helps every child see themselves as a reader and a leader.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Welcome to ODRD Rewired, a podcast from the Connecticut State Department of Education's Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities, where we connect research, policy, and practice to support equitable literacy outcomes for all students. Across Connecticut, improving literacy outcomes requires more than classroom instruction alone. It takes collaboration between schools, families, and community partners to ensure that children experience consistent encouragement, meaningful engagement, and joyful interactions with books. Today, we're joined by Malik Champlain, a consultant at the State Education Resource Center, also known as CERC, in Connecticut, where he supports districts in advancing equitable practices and strengthening student outcomes. In addition to his professional work in education systems, Malik is actively involved in community-based literacy initiatives, including Pages with Pops through the United Way of Greater Waterbury. His work centers on mentorship, representation, and building positive literacy experiences that connect family, schools, and community partners. We're grateful for the opportunity to highlight this work and explore how community-based efforts can complement school-based instruction and strengthen literacy development for students and families. Malik, thanks for being with us today.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Man, thank you so much for having me. It is, I'm super excited to be here. So thank you again.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Of course. So to begin, for listeners who may be new to this work, let's start from the very beginning. What is Pages with Pops and how did it start?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Thank you for asking that. Pages with Pops started from something deeply personal. I would say that for me, my identity wise, I'm a father first, right? So when it comes to reading to my children, um, I've seen how powerful those moments have been and really just the connection, the security, the love. But thinking professionally in my role with the state education resource center, I work with districts across the state supporting equitable practices and student outcomes. And I begin to notice in the work that in many literacy spaces, especially in urban communities, you don't see men, and particularly men of color that are like visibly engaged in reading. And that uh that absence matters. So pages with pops became a way to respond, right? Uh, a community-driven literacy initiative designed to like intentionally engage fathers and father figures, right, in their children's reading journey. And we've been just blessed with so many partners and sponsors in this work. Uh, I'd love to give just a quick shout out to like the Waterbury Public Library, to the United Way of Greater Waterbury, uh, obviously to to CERC, the State Education Research Center, uh, the Connecticut Statewide Family Engagement Center, and um also to to Lacey over there at Barnes and Noble's. Uh she's man, she definitely has helped us out and gave us places to do pages with pops. And then also shout outs to the uh Waterbury Youth Services uh program and and the the Bridge to Success Initiative. Um, we created spaces where literacy, mentorship, and community connection can exist and intersect.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

I love all the shout-outs. I love it. Um, and so that's that's really a powerful origin story. So when you think of how this started, it clearly wasn't just about reading books, it was responding to something deeper. And so, what need in the Waterbury community in particular were you hoping to address?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Well, you know, Circ moved from Middletown to Waterbury uh just a couple of years ago. And with that move, man, you got to really find out, at least for me being in Waterbury, Waterbury is a community rich in culture, resilience, and potential. But like many communities, it faces structural inequalities. So things like access to books, early uh language exposure, consistent male mentorship, and those are things that um, you know, uh an author, maybe one of my favorites is MK Asante. He says, once you make an observation, then you have an obligation. Um and as both a father and a CERC consultant, I understand that literacy disparities are connected to um opportunity disparities. So this wasn't just about reading levels, it's about identity, representation, um, belonging. Belonging been a really big word this year at that we have at Circ, right, in 2026. But um, and I and I want to just make sure I'm I'm niching that down, but like belonging, especially for our black and brown boys, right? If they don't see themselves reflected positively in literacy spaces, then they detach. Because sometimes we look at disconnection, but we also have to look at those that are disaffected, right? That are detaching right from literacy spaces. So I think it's so important that with pages with pops, we're addressing both skill and identity. Um, that really goes into, and you know, if I'm giving shout-outs, um, you know, we did a uh a reading last year with Goldie Muhammad and her unearthing joy, and she has these components around literacy and learning, and two of them are that skill and identity, and how and how we worked on like at Circ, how we can align that approach with our equity work in supporting families and communities um in an instructional partnership.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

So true. I I love your new building, by the way, in Waterbury. I uh frequent it often, and um you know, the and uh the location is great, and um, the community, you know, is is something that was also documented in um Harvey Hubble's uh Hopeville documentary, and and you can really see a lot of the aspects of the culture and community that you're speaking to uh within that film as well. Um, you kind of touched upon this um and how uh identity or that there's you there's stuff that goes beyond literacy skills and it's about visibility and presence. Um, so let's talk more about that. And if you've already kind of expanded on that, um that's okay. But is there anything you would like to add about male engagement and representation in literacy and why that's so important?

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Yeah, um representation shapes belief. And when boys don't see men reading and engaging in academic spaces, uh they may internalize, right? Explicitly or implicitly, like literacy is not aligned with their identity. You know, one of the things I like to tell the kids is that like like readers are leaders, right? And how much we enjoy that. So um, as someone who works also just in in systems improvement, I know we can't talk about equitable outcomes without talking about who shows up, right? So as someone who works um in those systems, when men read publicly, confidently, consistently, it expands what strength looks like, it expands what masculinity looks like, right? Um, and I'm just like I'm always asking, like, but what is it telling us? What is it communicating, right? Um, it communicates that literacy is leadership, literacy is protection, literacy is love, literacy is belonging. Um, and I and I just gotta think about myself. It's just like I grew up early in my life living in Brooklyn, right? Bushwick and Elder. And I grew up in a neighborhood where I couldn't leave my front steps. But I remember I had a grandmother who would tell me, like, your dreams don't live outside, they live in your books. And I think about how powerful that is in breaking and disrupting uh systemic barriers, um, that causes for a lot of times like a father's presence not to be felt as much as we want it to be. So, as a father, fatherhood advocate, right? Um, I believe this is also systems work.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

For sure. And so, what you're really speaking to, uh identity and belonging and not just instruction. Um, and so for a child sitting in one of these sessions, what does it mean to actually see positive male role models engaged in reading? And I know you kind of mentioned this, but just like picture yourself in one of these sessions, and I have attended one, and it is quite remarkable. Like, what does it mean for that child sitting there?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Well, you know, I believe in a concept of like manhood by committee or fatherhood by committee, and this idea that we get to change the narrative by like inviting men and fathers in, and then we get to see how many of them want to be like involved and a part and and are um um engaging in literacy. And I just want to add real quick, like the reading is great, but also literacy expands beyond the pages, so true, right? And so we have all these ways of just like uh of how that changes the narrative. But I think about um last year we had a um a Pages What Pops in the spring where we saw so many community leaders and men of the community show up to the the the Waterbury Public Library, and we they weren't just reading, they were like reading expressively because we know that dads and fathers read a certain way, right? They were they were doing the the horizontal, like like on the floor with the kids, right? Engaging, laughing, um, asking questions, and there is such a connection to that that is infectious, and that image matters, um and it models emotional fluency, it models engagement, it models presence, and and and if I'm thinking about this correctly for me, is that when children experience safety and belonging in literacy spaces, what we see is direct correlation to engagement increasing, right? Belonging supports learning, we know that, and it helps the kids out in the long-term outcomes.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

And to go along with that, when when literacy is framed that way as something relational and affirming, I imagine it shifts how children experience reading. And so, what differences have you observed in children's confidence uh or motivation when literacy is framed as connection and relation building?

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Well, uh I want to give you this. Um when I was growing up, I didn't say my first word till I was four. Uh, because we lived in certain certain like uh humble beginnings, I didn't have a primary care. So when I would get ear infections, I would probably like once or twice a month, I would just go to the ER. Um, when we moved to Connecticut, um, they found out I have water in my ears. I was about eight years old at the time. So I spoke with a very like extreme stutter. And what I was the reason I'm telling the story is that I grew up in a time where in in third, fourth, fifth grade, when you were not uh a proficient reader, they would um the reading teacher would come in on Thursdays and make you read in front of the class, right? And I think about where I was left at outside of that elementary school experience that that really beat me down. So I I add that because I connect that little boy in me when I'm in here looking at like what does them observing us do for them when literacy becomes relational rather than transactional confidence grows. And pages with pops, literacy isn't just about assessment, it's about the experience, right? Like it's and for the parent, too. Like so many times. Um, we I was just down on Bridgeport at an early learning center, and I'm like, look, like if your main language is not English, speak that language, right? Because sometimes we grow up to be adults that have this phobia, right? When we are like read my my kids can tell you to gruffalo, right? And probably read the whole book to you so many times, and it's great to have a diverse amount of books, but it's also beautiful to just sit there and really just work through something and be able to provide this idea where kids can participate more into interaction and and build new vocabulary and this idea of retelling stories with pride. Um, and and that pride, and and I would add this is that um my son and I, and if you can see it, we wrote a book called Mason's Big Hair Adventure.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

You wrote a book, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

We came out last year. Oh my gosh! We we do a ton across the state with it, and um, and then we just um inked a deal with uh barbershop books out of New York, and but representation and pride, right, in my son's hair. And and we we talk about like this idea of his hair being his crown, right? And and he was four nice five, right? But sometimes when we go to to go read the book, like you can tell this pride that he has about telling his story of his first haircut, um, and this want to kind of be like his dad, and this idea of this like father-son bond that we have, and and a lot of the the the fear that he had going into it, and some of the SEL skills that we developed, and I and I really just bring that up because as someone who works with districts and understanding curriculum and instruction skills, I just I I can't I want to overstate yeah, connection builds belief, and when we get kids who like love to read, who believe in themselves and have a stack of evidence, right? That that that's sustainable impact.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

For sure. Have you has your son or you um been the guest reader at a pages with pops event reading your book?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yes, at the last Waterberry one, we we we read that one. Um we did it um recently. We we just did an event with uh a company called Sparkle that that um yeah, we just did uh an event with them as well as Read2Grow. And then we're doing something um with uh SCL for CT next week, and then we have so like we're doing the Barnes and Nobles with uh yeah, so like it's it's been great.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Oh, that is amazing. Uh oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to reach out and find out where your next event is so that I can come. I love that. Oh my gosh. Okay. Uh I could I could talk to you forever, but getting back uh to why we're here. Uh that shift that you mentioned in confidence, it must ripple outward. And so I'm curious how families respond when they see that kind of engagement. How do the families that attend these events respond to the initiative?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Yeah, well uh I'm I'm gonna get to that. But first, I want to say is that what I didn't know I was gonna get was so many gems from families on what they do, right? You come in, you think you're this expert, you did some reading, right? You you got a little title on you, and you come in and then you see the genius in our families. And I'm talking like the genius from like Canton, Connecticut to New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwich, like New London, like all over the state, right? And and and there's such um a joy in this two-way street, but families often respond just with gratitude, yeah, right. Sometimes we're affirming what they do at home, and that's beautiful, and other times they're just like, Man, thank you so much because I'm so busy, but you just you kind of laid it out in this way, or you reminded me um that there's hope, yeah. And we know how powerful hope is. I think for some fathers, they they they share a lot of times that they weren't read to. Um, so so a lot of times, right? What what what is it wasn't done for us, we can't give them what we don't have unless something inter interjects and changes that, yeah. So pages with pops, um uh dad reads to me, all these things becomes a new starting point for those men. And and and and what I love also is like this expression of like because we said father figures as well. So I get a lot of moms coming in who might be single moms or moms who are looking for for mentors and father figures, and they're just so appreciative of having this space, right? Because it's um it's just they see the impact that it has on their kids and and and the hopes and dreams that they have for um their children, and and I just think that the collaboration that we have, um we man. I think about we we brought in Dr. Brandon Frame, who also spoke at the event, and we brought him in and he spoke in Windsor and he spoke to 50 families. We we ran out of books to give out. We started being like, All right, we gotta give them only to fan. Like, there's so many people came and and they he gave out ties, and then we and then we did it again in New Haven. And then the beauty of that was that we actually went to the middle school, taught them how to read the book, then the middle schoolers went down to elementary school and then read the books to the elementary school kids. So now what is that paying it forward, that lighting of the light, right? And there's so much that goes in alignment and sustainability in this.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

That event that I attended with Brandon was a highlight for me, and I keep his book like up on my um uh filing cabinet at work because it just reminds me of the why uh oftentimes. And so I was I was so grateful to have the opportunity to to attend that event and and see him engage with with the community so I could just imagine how those other events went. That's crazy. So it sounds like this initiative creates a bridge, not just between adults and children, but between community and school. How can community-based literacy initiatives like pages with pops complement school-based instruction?

SPEAKER_00 18:04

So, yes. Um schools are you know, schools are responsible for a lot, right? And when we really think about the the high quality, the evidence-based literacy instruction, we think about phonics awareness, right? Decoding, fluency, comprehension, uh, being able to help build that within students, but also support families and and helping in that. Um, community initiatives like pages with pops reinforce the motivation, the identity, and the relational components of literacy development. And I I see it as just like sometimes we could call up an either or, but but and both. Yeah, I love it, right? And it's like one hand wash the other, both hands wash the face, and we're all here because right, we love the kids. We it's all about the kids, right? We like and I I think for at least at CERC, we emphasize alignment, um, and and not duplication. So being able to complement school systems to complement uh the State Department, right? To complement and and thinking about when school instruction is reinforced by community engagement and family presence in that ecosystem, that triangle offense, we do not lose.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Nope.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

There's no gap, there's a net actually to catch those kids. And I think that's what we're looking for, and that that that type of equity requires that ecosystem and not isolated interventions.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Nope. We need to break down the walls of the silos for sure. And so if that alignment is possible, then the next step is being intentional about it. So, how can educators and districts partner more intentionally with initiatives like Pages with Pops?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

So recently I got a chance to um speak at the CT Family Engagement Engagement Conference held by Krek. And um just looking at uh a notes I have is that I was able to present on the importance of uh rec first recognizing that fatherhood engagement uh is a literacy strategy and can be a literacy strategy, but fatherhood engagement is just important in general, yeah. And one of the things that I shared was these five steps, right? And very simply awareness, participation, connection, advocacy, and leadership. And and when we involve, um, I think about me personally, I'm with the um the watchdogs and my and right, the the uh the dads of great students, right? And I think about the the work that we do there is that when we talk to other dads and you bring the awareness to dads, dads want to be present, they just sometimes need to know where to go. Yeah, uh when you get them participating in school events and being like, hey, we have these things that are connected to you, like dads and donuts, like like a dad's in literacy event that we have at the library. Uh, and then we we connect them with like what are some strategies and rituals that you can do at home around reading? It doesn't always have to be at bedtime, it can be waiting for the doctor, it can be waiting in school pickup, it can be at the grocery store, right? We talk about literacy, um, and then advocacy in terms of like how do you help dad speak up? And then we get more dads nowadays. If you look, I remember this year I was coming in and I was like, I seen so many dads walking kids to school, so many more dads showing up for PPT, so many dads showing up and and and I you love that. And it's like, how do we help them advocate? And then lastly, how do we give them a position of leadership? So that I mean, like that's first. Second, like within that partnership, and intentionally bringing in community organizers and libraries and things like that, where we're having events, we're we're we're bringing those wraparound services, we're bringing in the community, we're bringing back that that idea that education and districts and schools are a community hub, yeah, and and and we're uniting communities. Um, and then I think uh third, creating um structured. And and welcoming environments, right? How do we do that where it is welcoming for male caregivers to come into the school? Right. Um and and and what does that look like when we when you have that? Um so I think that like having that alignment really helps us in terms of building the system that is community aligned.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

Wow. There are so many like great quotes that you meant like stated today that I'm going to have to go back and watch this recording, write those quotes down and have them like on my wall at all times. You are just such an eloquent speaker, and we are so appreciative of having you here today. If people want to learn more about um pages with pops, we did put the Circ website um up, you know, as a banner. Um, and should they contact you directly uh if they have any questions or wanting to know like when the next event is?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yes, absolutely. But I I want to make sure that like none of these events are possible without my colleague, Nicole Vitali. Yes. Uh and if y'all know Nicole, she is like the youth whisperer, she gets so much done. Um, she is uh sometimes I call my boss because like she's always got me doing something. And but I would but I would say that, yeah, please, um, you would when you reach out to me, you would hear from myself or or Nicole, most likely, um, in that work. And and then also a shout out to uh Nisa Diaz, uh a colleague of mine as well, because some of these events that we put on, we make sure that our our Spanish-speaking population, right, our multi-language learners, that they have capacity that we're being equitable and providing it in Spanish, um, especially looking at the the languages that we have in the state of Connecticut and trying to expand um how we can be more equitable that way.

SPEAKER_03 23:48

I love that. Well, we put your email address on um as the banner, but um you can always forward it to Nicole or Nitsa, and and we can definitely make sure that we uh bridge the collaboration. Um I'm even thinking of our collaborative and how you know I want to inform the Connecticut State Library, like of all your great work, and how can we bring more folks into the um you know initiative and spread the word about it? But um to wrap up today, Malik, you've described uh a model where literacy isn't confined to classrooms. It's reinforced through relationships, mentorship, and community presence. Your work reminds us that when schools, families, and community partners are aligned, literacy becomes both skill building and identity building. When children see reading as a meaningful, powerful, and joyful experience, especially by trusted adults and community leaders, it reinforces the message that literacy is for everyone. So thank you for sharing your insight and for the impact Pages with Pops is making in Waterbury and beyond. And thank you to our listeners for tuning into ODRD Rewired. Join us next time as we continue to highlight voices, experiences, and practices that advance literacy, equity, and opportunity for all learners.