Monica Cannon is a resident of the North Midtown Community and is an active volunteer in her neighborhood Community Development Center (CDC). She was inspired to participate in the Parent Leadership Institute after seeing the high percentage of students at Rowan Middle School who were performing well below grade level. She started her project working with parents in the CDC, helping them understand different learning styles and knowing more about what their children are expected to learn in school. She formed family reading circles where parents read and discussed the same book their children were reading in school. She brought the school Literacy Coach and Librarian to the CDC to help parents learn how to help their children with reading comprehension and book reports. At Rowan Middle School, she worked in collaboration with the Literacy Coach to help the lowest performing students improve their reading. Monica received a grant from First Books, which enabled her to supply the required summer reading book to the entire 8th grade class at Rowan. She provided families and the school library with donated books. Monica continues to be a leading force in the North Midtown neighborhood and has moved her project work to Northwest Middle School where her daughter is a student.