The MRC splits off from the Minnesota Literacy Council

The Minnesota Reading Corps first started out as 20 AmeriCorps members in 4 Head Start classrooms and has grown to 675 members in 460 Head Start classrooms across the state! And we owe our thanks to the Minnesota Literacy Council (MLC) which has helped us grow since the very beginning in 2003.

"The MLC has been managing the Minnesota Reading Corps for roughly 5-7 years in some form," said Eric Nesheim, executive director of the MLC. "We were delighted to see the MRC grow and change each year.
As of August 1, the MRC has been joined by the new venture, Minnesota Math Corps, and is now a part of the new Minnesota Education Corps organization. After such growth and positive results, the time was right to say good-bye to the MLC who planted the seed for us to blossom into what we are today.

"This past year, the MRC was about 2/3rds of the MLC budget," Eric said. "We wanted to make sure the MRC could make its own decisions and grow unobstructed by another group's policies."

As we head into the 2010-2011 year, the MRC held its first Summer Institute last week at the St. Paul River Center to train its new members. With all the excitement of new members and the spin-off from the MLC, it's hard to believe that school starts in only a couple weeks!

"There is only good will between the two groups and both the MLC and the MRC have agreed to continue to work together collaboratively," said Eric.