Sonnesyn Elementary Honored for Literacy Excellence with Statewide Award

When the Minnesota Business Partnership announced Sonnesyn Elementary School as the recipient of the 2025 Minnesota’s Future Award for Excellence in Literacy Instruction, the crowd at the organization’s annual HQElevate event, held on Oct. 9, rose to their feet. The video presentation highlighting Sonnesyn’s story, and the teachers, students, and leaders behind its literacy transformation, drew a standing ovation from hundreds of business and community leaders.

For Principal Mary Jane Adams, that moment represented more than recognition; it was a celebration of a movement that started in her classrooms and is now shaping how reading is taught across Robbinsdale Area Schools (Rdale).

Sonnesyn’s 2025 Minnesota’s Future Award for Excellence in Literacy Instruction is a statewide honor recognizing schools that are closing achievement gaps and proving that every child can succeed through evidence-based instruction. The recognition came with a $50,000 award from the Minnesota Business Partnership, a nonpartisan organization of CEOs and senior leaders representing about 100 of Minnesota’s largest employers.

“It was such an amazing celebration,” she said. “It meant so much to have my teachers and district leaders feel seen, valued and celebrated. They have worked so hard. While we continue to have much more work ahead of us, our early results have been so exciting.”

The partnership’s education committee, led by co-chairs Archie Black and Allison Gettings, highlighted Sonnesyn for its remarkable progress in early literacy, including a 10 percent increase in third-grade reading proficiency since the 2022-23 school year.

“Sonnesyn Elementary exemplifies what’s possible when educators embrace evidence-based practices and commit to every student’s success,” said Kurt Zellers, CEO of the Minnesota Business Partnership. “Their impressive gains in reading proficiency through the Bridge2Read program and science-of-reading practices prove that with strong leadership and proven strategies, every child can succeed. Principal Adams and her team aren’t just teaching reading — they’re building Minnesota’s future workforce.”

A New Path for Literacy

Sonnesyn’s journey began three years ago, when Adams and her team partnered with ServeMinnesota to pilot Bridge2Read, a literacy model grounded in the science of reading. The structured, 30-minute lessons target foundational reading skills—phonemic awareness, decoding, and word study—and are paired with real-time coaching and data analysis.

The results have gone beyond one school. After seeing Sonnesyn’s success, alongside early results from Lakeview Elementary School, Rdale expanded Bridge2Read to all elementary schools across the district this year.

Superintendent Dr. Teri Staloch said Sonnesyn’s work exemplifies what happens when research and belief in students meet in the classroom.

“What’s happening at Sonnesyn is a powerful example of what’s possible when dedicated educators combine research-based instruction with a deep belief in every child’s potential,” Staloch said. “We’re proud to build on this success across Rdale to ensure every student becomes a confident, capable reader.”

Investing in What Works

The Minnesota Business Partnership created the Minnesota’s Future Award to highlight programs that demonstrate measurable success, celebrate the educators behind them, and inspire replication across the state.

“We created the Minnesota’s Future Award because we needed to spotlight what works in education,” said Archie Black, Co-Chair of MBP’s Education Committee. “Sonnesyn Elementary is proving that evidence-based literacy instruction can transform outcomes for students, particularly in communities where achievement gaps persist. This is the model that every school in Minnesota should study.”

The $50,000 award will support Sonnesyn’s continued implementation of evidence-based literacy practices and the expansion of programs that have proven successful in closing achievement gaps.

“I feel so much gratitude for being able to intentionally partner with ServeMN in this journey,” Adams said. “It has been essential to its success. The commitment of the Minnesota Business Partnership in deeply supporting the implementation of Bridge2Read, and celebrating the educators and leaders who are making it happen, is so clearly driving results for our kids.”

A Ripple Effect of Reading Success

Last school year, Sonnesyn hosted a visit from Minnesota Education Commissioner Willie Jett, ServeMinnesota CEO Julia Quanrud, as well as Black and his wife, Jane Black, and other dignitaries, to see the program in action.

Guests observed a second-grade lesson led by veteran teacher Leslie Stokka, supported by Anny Vega Chimil, a Reading Corps coach who once sat in the same classroom as a student. For Adams, that moment—witnessing a former student now teaching where she once learned to read—symbolized everything Bridge2Read represents: growth, opportunity, and a future built on literacy.