2025 Award Recipient
EricaFrishberg
Project Hearing for a Change
Project Hearing for a Change
Erica is the co-founder of Hearing For A Change, an after-school “listening club” that uses audiobooks to cultivate a love of literature in elementary school students who are struggling to read.
As a child with dyslexia, Erica had trouble reading and grew to despise it. But, thanks to her mother reading aloud to her, Erica’s perspective changed entirely. As a teenager, Erica turned to audiobooks. She realized the audio format has tremendous power to help struggling readers like her enhance their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and love of books. The data agreed; Erica learned that students who engage in reading for 20 minutes a day are likely to score better than 90% of their peers on standardized tests.
Erica started a club at her high school to train teen volunteers how to select, listen to, and discuss audiobooks with young readers in third through fifth grades. Volunteers meet weekly at a local elementary school and pair up with a buddy. To spark a connection, teens source engaging audiobooks that their buddies will especially enjoy.
Hearing for a Change has expanded to four high school chapters which have established clubs in five elementary schools, and helped well over 100 struggling readers through audiobooks.
A network of after-school “listening clubs” dedicated to fostering a love of audiobooks in elementary school students who struggle to read.
