The Read to Rise™ Cohort · Applications Opening Soon

Eight weeks. One cohort. A literacy practice your son will carry for life.

A live coaching program for Black teen boys ages 13–18 and the parent raising them. Identity-first literacy. Scholarly grounded. Small cohort. Carefully placed.

Join the Early List How it works

Early-list members get application access before the public + a guaranteed placement-call slot.

Word Is Bond — the foundational literacy framework behind Read to Rise.

Reading is revolutionary.

The Problem

Your son is intelligent. Reading feels like a fight.

  • Avoidance or shutdown when reading is assigned
  • Strong verbal skills but flat or thin written responses
  • Inconsistent grades that don't match the mind you know he has
  • Power struggles at home around schoolwork
  • A growing sense — sometimes unspoken — that "school isn't for him"

"Most programs focus on skills alone. Read to Rise™ addresses the part nearly everyone misses — that for our boys, the identity work is the prerequisite, not the afterthought."

The Reframe

This is not tutoring.

Tutoring asks "what skill is missing?" Coaching asks "what story is he living inside?" Skill follows when the story shifts.

Most Programs

Skill remediation

Focus on decoding gaps, vocabulary drills, and time-on-task. Treats the student as the problem to be fixed. Works around the boy's identity rather than through it.

Read to Rise™

Identity-first coaching

Built on enabling texts, scholarly framework (Tatum, Muhammad, Smitherman, Baker-Bell), and a parent-partner model. Treats the boy as a thinker first. Skill follows identity.

Word is bond.

What's Inside the Cohort

What families receive.

Concrete deliverables, every week, for eight weeks. No vague promises.

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Weekly Live Teen Coaching

Guided reading instruction grounded in enabling texts. Skill building + identity work. Weekly reading and writing artifacts that show measurable progress.

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Biweekly Parent Coaching

Routines that reduce power struggles. Language scripts for hard conversations. Accountability systems that actually work in real homes.

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Progress Tracking

Baseline → midpoint → final assessment. Reading comprehension, writing complexity, and reading identity all measured. You see the growth in data, not promises.

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60-Day Legacy Plan

What happens after the cohort ends. A continuation roadmap with text list, reading cadence, and next-phase support so the work doesn't stop with us.

The Eight Weeks

A practice you can feel from week one.

Each week builds on the last. By the end, your son owns a literacy identity he did not have when he started.

  1. Foundation — The Mirror

    Baseline assessment. First enabling text placed in his hands. Family contract signed by parent and teen together.

  2. Identity — The Lineage

    Who he reads alongside. Building the personal canon. First written reflection on a text that found him.

  3. Power — The Tradition

    The history of Black literacy. Why this matters. Reading as recovered freedom, not assigned chore.

  4. Language — His Voice

    Code-meshing as skill. Writing in his real voice. The dialect at home is the tool — not the obstacle.

  5. Resistance — The Counter-Narrative

    What the world says about him vs. what the texts say. Writing back. Argument as inheritance.

  6. Legacy — The Long Table

    What he hands down. Reading for the cousin, the grandson, the family that is still becoming.

  7. Voice — The Public Stage

    Speaking and writing for audiences beyond the classroom. Final project shaped, drafted, and rehearsed.

  8. Rise — The Continuation

    Final presentation. Final assessment. 60-day Legacy Plan delivered. Family closure ceremony.

Bond is built.

Fit

Is this right for your family?

Honest answers protect outcomes. Read carefully.

This cohort is for families who:

  • Have a Black teen boy ages 13–18
  • Believe his current school is not seeing him fully
  • Want structure and a framework, not guesswork
  • Are willing to partner — this is not drop-off tutoring
  • Believe literacy is about more than grades
  • Can commit to eight consecutive weeks of presence

This cohort is not for families seeking:

  • Quick fixes or test-prep crash courses
  • A program the parent isn't involved in
  • One-off tutoring sessions on demand
  • A diagnosis or a label for the child
  • A way to avoid hard conversations at home
  • Hands-off enrollment with no commitment
Alexis Dobbins, M.Ed. — Founder of Word Is Bond and Read to Rise

Your Coach

Alexis Dobbins, M.Ed.

Ed.D. Candidate, Literacy Studies · Educator · Founder of Word Is Bond™

I teach Government and AP Government. I am a doctoral candidate researching literacy among Black male adolescents. I spent fifteen years in national education at PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I hold an M.Ed. and an MS in Adult Education and Leadership, plus certifications in mediation and coaching.

But the credential that matters most to your son is this: I am a mama who has watched too many of our boys get reduced to their reading scores in rooms where nobody asked what they were thinking. Read to Rise™ is what I built so that stops happening to one more boy on my watch.

I do not run a large operation. Each cohort is small by design — I personally coach every teen and every parent in the room.

How Enrollment Works

A four-step process.

Read to Rise™ is selective by design. The application protects outcomes for every family enrolled.

  1. Join the Early List

    Get the application before the public and a guaranteed placement-call slot.

  2. Complete a Short Application

    Tell me about your son, your family, and what you're hoping for. About 15 minutes.

  3. Placement Call

    A 30-minute call with both parent and teen. We confirm fit on both sides.

  4. Enroll in the Cohort

    If we're a fit, you receive placement confirmation and onboarding within 48 hours.

Honest Questions

What parents actually ask.

How much does it cost?

The pricing is shared during the placement call, after we've confirmed fit on both sides. Sliding-scale options and sponsorship seats are available for families who need them. We will never let cost alone keep a fit family out of the cohort — but we ask families to apply first and have the cost conversation in context.

Is this in person or online?

The cohort runs live online — weekly teen sessions and biweekly parent sessions, recorded for makeup if a family has to miss. This format keeps the cohort small, geographically diverse, and accessible to families across the country.

What if my son resists the idea at first?

That's typical and expected. The first week is designed to disarm that resistance — not by performing for him, but by treating him as a thinker from the first minute. Most teens who started skeptical end the eight weeks asking when the next cohort starts.

Do I have to be his biological parent?

No. The "parent partner" can be a mother, father, grandmother, aunt, guardian, or any committed adult who shares a home or significant time with the teen. What matters is consistent partnership for eight weeks.

What ages exactly?

13 to 18. Cohorts are placed by readiness and developmental fit, not strictly by grade. Some 13-year-olds are placed in older cohorts; some 17-year-olds are placed with the younger group. We sort it during the placement call.

What if my son has an IEP, 504, or diagnosed learning difference?

We work with many families in this situation. The cohort is not a clinical intervention and does not replace specialized services — but the identity-first approach often produces gains for boys whose previous reading experiences have been wrapped in deficit framing. We discuss specifics on the placement call.

Built to rise.

The Next Cohort

Get on the early list.

When the next cohort opens, early-list families receive application access first, plus a guaranteed placement-call slot. The list is the way in.