Education Couture Promotes Literacy And Learning

Ruckiya Ross and Querida Flores, of Education Couture. Photo provided by Swank PR.
Ruckiya Ross and Querida Flores, of Education Couture. Photo provided by Swank PR.

Education Couture Promotes Literacy And Learning

By Tia Carol Jones

A local program, founded by a speech-language therapist, is making literacy more accessible and culturally relevant. Ruckiya Ross first came up with the idea for Education Couture in 2014 while working in the Chicago Public Schools. In her work in communities on the South side, she noticed literacy gaps and also noticed that learning didn’t excite the children as much as pop culture, music and fashion. She wanted to make children as passionate about reading as they were about other things that grabbed their attention. She  left CPS, Ross returned as a volunteer to test an idea that blended therapeutic practices with hip-hop rhythm and neuroscience-based strategies to spark engagement and build vocabulary. Those early experiments became the foundation for Education Couture. Querida Flores and Ruckiya Ross, of Education Couture, took the time to answer questions that were submitted to them by the Citizen Newspaper.

Citizen Newspaper: What is the mission of Education Couture and how does it engage the community?

Education Couture: Education Couture’s mission is simple and bold: to transform literacy learning into something engaging, culturally relevant, and genuinely exciting for children. We aspire for learning to feel “cool” and empowering. We do this because low literacy is tied to long-term barriers such as limited economic opportunity and an increased risk of incarceration. Our work focuses on disrupting those patterns early. We aim to ignite a passion for learning by reimagining how children receive and connect with instruction, especially in the foundational years.

We engage the community through a combination of direct school programming, family-centered initiatives, and accessible learning tools. In schools, we provide structured literacy programs that support both early learners and older students who benefit from mentorship-based interventions. Beyond the school day, we meet families where they are—through free workshops, community events, and partnerships that expand access to our resources. Our new app, LuxLearner, extends this reach even further by developing a literacy community, giving students and families a fun, gamified way to practice reading comprehension at home. Across all these efforts, we create consistent, welcoming pathways into literacy learning and ensure that communities can connect with our programming in meaningful and lasting ways.


Citizen Newspaper: Why is family literacy so important?

Education Couture: Decades of research make one thing clear: parental involvement is one of the strongest predictors of academic success. Students who are read to at least three times a week are twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent of readers — regardless of income level. Beyond academic outcomes, shared reading time strengthens the emotional bond between parent and child and helps build essential social–emotional skills. Family literacy isn’t just about books; it’s about connection, confidence, and creating a foundation for lifelong learning.


Citizen Newspaper: What are Education Couture’s focus areas?

Education Couture: Early Childhood Literacy, Destigmatized Literacy Intervention/Mentorship, Gamified Literacy Tech — our LuxLearner Literacy Community App and Public Education Transformation.


Citizen Newspaper: How have families responded to Education Couture’s therapeutic music plan?

Education Couture: Families have responded with overwhelming positivity to Education Couture’s therapeutic music plan — our signature “reading music” used in classrooms to build early literacy skills. Because the therapeutic plan is reading music, parents immediately recognize its impact, especially now that the songs are available online. Many have shared their amazement when children — especially those who are non-verbal or emerging communicators — begin singing our songs at home after learning them at school. For families, these moments feel like true breakthroughs, powerful and joyful signs that their children are connecting, learning, and finding their voice through music.


Citizen Newspaper: Why is it important for Education Couture to partner with other local community organizations?

Education Couture: As a small grassroots not-for-profit, Education Couture has a limited reach on our own. Partnering with local community organizations is essential because it expands our capacity, extends our impact, and allows us to deliver more coordinated, holistic services to families. These partnerships help us meet communities where they are, strengthen our collective support network, and ensure that children and families receive the comprehensive resources they deserve. Together, we can do far more than any organization can do alone.

 

Citizen Newspaper: How can people in the community support the work Education Couture is doing? 

Education Couture: People can support Education Couture’s work in several meaningful ways. One of the simplest is to use and share our resources—whether that’s attending our workshops, engaging with our activities, or exploring our online tools. Families can log in to their favorite streaming platform and search “Education Couture” to share our Reading Music with their young learners at home. You can also join our LuxLearner app and become a member of our literacy community today. Engaging with these resources and adding us to your mental list of trusted community supports helps expand our reach and impact.

As a designated 501(C)(3) tax-exempt organization, community members can also support our mission through donations, which allow us to offer more free programming, expand our community initiatives, and continue developing innovative literacy tools.


Citizen Newspaper: Where can people go to find out more about Education Couture?

Education Couture: They can go to www.educouture.org to learn all about the organization and any upcoming initiatives like our upcoming Lux Learner app and learning community or they can go directly to www.luxlearner.com to sign up for the Lux Learner waiting list.

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