Jacque Proctor Shares About Empowering Literacy

"When we know how to read and write, we have endless possibilities in the world. When we have a literate community, it directly impacts the community... It helps keep citizens informed," stated Jacque Proctor, owner and founder of Empowering Literacy, a literacy coaching program for children.

Jacque spent most of her childhood in Wilmington, attending Holmes Elementary and graduating from Wilmington High School. She shared that she struggled to read as a child, stating, "I didn't want kids to struggle the way that I struggled, so I thought, "How can I help make a different experience for students?'" She moved to northern Indiana for college, but later moved back and began long-term substitute-teaching at Wilmington City Schools.

Now, she has been teaching for 16 years and currently works for Clinton Massie Local Schools. Jacque has her masters degree, Montessori training, Orton-Gillingham training, and has experience helping struggling readers.

In addition to her personal experience, Jacque was inspired to open her business because she struggled with reading as a child. She took an online business class in October of 2025 and began coaching students in January of 2026.

According to Jacque, her program is for struggling readers aged four to seven years old, as her skill set is in developing the foundational skills. She begins with a "Ready to Read" assessment to identify where a child is at with literacy. Then, she hosts a 45 minute coaching session to come up with a plan for the child. She determines the length of time needed to help the child improve, plans homework, and then the family can begin practicing. When the program is complete, families will have a celebration to highlight what went well and discuss anything that didn't go well. Jacque can host any part of the process both virtually or in-person.

According to Jacque, the difference between Empowering Literacy and a tutor is that she teaches parents how to teach their children. She stated, "When you're the parent, if you've learned how to do it, you now know how to practice [forever]." She shared the story of a child who learned 23 out of 26 letter sounds within a week and could read short books within two weeks.

To learn more about Empowering Literacy, visit empoweringliteracy.org.