The Needle's Eye Academy
Information, in formation.
Our Mission
The Needle’s Eye Academy strives to hone the interdisciplinary skills and lenses of Maryland Eastern Shore scholars who identify as members of the Global Majority through a comprehensive, dynamic learning environment rooted in empathy and empowerment. As a POC-founded and community-based non-profit organization, the Academy is grounded in and emboldened by its unwavering commitment to the highly nuanced multinational, multilingual diasporas with enduring legacies of systemic and institutional literacy suppression. Accordingly, The Academy believes that literacy is both foundational to American self-governance and a prerequisite to intentional civic engagement. In our increasingly transnational socio-political landscape, literacy—in all of its expansive forms and applications—is inextricably connected to the liberation of all marginalized peoples. Through intensive summer literacy instruction, immersive and curated programming which serves as the connective tissue between texts and lived experience, and an expansive year-long support and mentorship, The Academy preserves free Tidewater bedrock for contemporary agency.
Thank you to our dedicated partners
Programming
The Academy partners with local school districts on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to provide literacy enrichment programming for secondary school students, particularly students in eighth and ninth grade. Scholar cohorts participate in two types of sessions - the first set of sessions are virtual sessions led by an instructor. Scholars use an anchor text to develop their reading, writing, and comprehension skills, as well as practice public speaking. Scholars also engage with primary and secondary source texts.
After literacy programming has concluded, scholars have the opportunity to participate in optional hands-on, immersive learning experiences at local non-profit organizations. Learn more about how the Inaugural Cohort leveraged these complementary experiences.
Awards and Recognition
2023 Nominee for the Light of Literacy Organization Award
Presented to a local business or organization in recognition of that company’s efforts to improve the literacy of our community. Examples include support of literacy focused programs or initiatives (reading, computer, financial, health or economic literacies), providing time for employees to engage the community in support of these literacies, or providing financial support for organizations in our community who make literacies more accessible.
The Needle’s Eye Academy Summer Cohort Program
The Needle’s Eye Academy Summer Cohort Program is the centerpiece of The Academy’s initiatives to supplement, encourage, and support literacy and change agentry among scholars on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The Academy wields a cohort-based framework meaning that each year the Academy selects a limited number of scholars to engage in the program. Further, each cohort is determined through an application and interview process to capture the intentions and needs of scholars and their families. Join the longstanding movement for radical literacy by applying to this summer’s cohort!
Content Spotlight
Literary Lightbulb Moments
A short, documentary-style video series launched on our Instagram page,
Literary Lightbulb Moments tackle the diversity in Talbot County Public School students, past and present, as well as in their experiences with literacy and cultural representation within literature. From the comfort of their own homes, features delve into their relationships with literacy, how that relationship may have grown strong, or weaker, throughout their academic careers and where they are currently on their journeys.