Meet a Rotman MBA Alum Changing U.S. Literacy

There’s no doubt that the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto has an impressive list of MBA alums. The Financial Times has ranked it as the #1 Business School in Canada for the tenth year in a row, and that’s just the start. Recently, Forbes interviewed Sage Salvo, Founder of Words Liive and a Rotman MBA alum.

Salvo’s story started in the D.C. Public School system where he performed well, thanks to his gifted classes. However, when he moved schools, suddenly he stopped being so engaged and almost failed 8th grade. It was all because he couldn’t connect with the school materials or interact with individuals who would engage him on his terms. And that was how Words Liive was born.

Words Liive

Words Liive is an education service company focused on changing the way kids learn. The company believes that students already communicate through themes, ideas, and thoughts every day, so there’s no reason why they should struggle with literacy. The core of the company was the development of Contemporary Grammar Integration (CGI).

CGI is a brand new approach to literacy. It evaluates contemporary languages such as:

• The lyrics of urban music
• Code/computer programming languages
• Social media lingo
• Text message language

The goal is to incorporate these modern languages into traditional classroom literature, so it’s more easily digestible for students. The approach works on everything from novels to speeches, essay, plays, power, history, social studies, and technology.

The Forbes article had this to say:

“If kid’s creativity can be harnessed ‘we can produce great writers. If we can produce great writers, we can produce get readers. And if we can produce great readers, we can produce great thinkers.’ Those great thinkers are the fuel we need for our creative economy and the future of entrepreneurship in America.”

Salvo founded Words Liive in 2013 and immediately began tackling reading and writing challenges for 7th and 8th-grade kids in D.C. From there, he developed a true education technology suite that could be used to address literacy challenges on a broader scale.

regions: Toronto

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