burke augustine literacy project

Mission: to improve the reading, writing and spelling abilities of low-income children and teens who struggle with literacy skills. The project trains and supports volunteer tutors who provide free, long-term, one-to-one instruction using the Orton-Gillingham approach and Wilson Reading System® materials.


History: The Augustine Literacy Project® was founded in 1994 by Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We are a replication chapter of the Augustine Literacy Project, serving struggling readers in Burke County. We train and support volunteer tutors who provide free, one-on-one, long-term instruction in reading, writing, and spelling to low income children and teens who struggle with literacy skills. The program provides each tutor with 70 hours of training (classroom and practicum) based on the Orton-Gillingham approach, using research-based reading materials from a variety of sources, including the Wilson Reading System®. The Orton-Gillingham approach is a systematic, multisensory, phonetic teaching methodology that is proven to work with learning disabled children and others with reading difficulties.


About Us: Oak Hill United Methodist Church received a grant from Duke Endowment to expand our outreach to the Oak Hill community. Part of this outreach includes starting a replication chapter of ALP. Alisha Crawley, teacher at Oak Hill Elementary School, is trained by ALP to train tutors and serves as the Director of the Burke Augustine Literacy Project. 


We have fourteen tutors this school year, serving at Mull Elementary, Forest Hill Elementary, Oak Hill Elementary school, and others around Burke County. We hope to expand the Burke ALP program to all of Burke County, having an Augustine trained tutor in each school in Burke County.


*Visit our new website!



Get Involved:

  • Become a tutor: Register now!
  • Recruit a tutor
  • Sponsor a tutor or training
  • Make a tax-deductible donation
  • Provide a meal during our two week training in August
  • Provide a meal for one of our monthly Tutor meetings. 
  • Tell everyone you know that Oak Hill UMC has started a chapter of ALP!
  • Like & Share our BURKE ALP Facebook page!
  • Ask our Development Director, Amy Coley, to come speak with your group, club, or organization about Burke ALP!

Contact Alisha Crawley if you would like to help or if you have any questions.