Beyond Reading: Using Literacy to Build Voice

We often tell children:

“Use your words.”

But have we taught them the words they need?

Words to name what they are feeling.

Words to establish a boundary.

Words to tell someone when something is wrong.

Words to ask for help.

Words to advocate for themselves.

Words to stand up for someone else.

At the Bullying, Literacy, & Leadership Experience (BLLX), literacy isn't included in the title simply because reading is important.

Literacy can help children understand what they are experiencing, communicate what they need, examine different perspectives, and develop the confidence to use their voices.

That connection will be at the center of Beyond Reading: Using Literacy to Build Voice, Belonging & Upstanders, presented by Candice N. Jester, Ed.S.  

Why Literacy Belongs in the Bullying Conversation

Think about what we ask children to do when they encounter a difficult situation.

Recognize what is happening.

Identify what they are experiencing.

Understand how another person may be affected.

Set a boundary.

Explain what happened.

Report a concern.

Ask for help.

Advocate for someone else.

Each of those actions requires language.

During her BLLX session, Candice will explore how vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading comprehension, writing, and reflection can intentionally help children recognize harmful behavior, navigate conflict, establish boundaries, develop empathy, and move from bystanders to upstanders.  

It raises an important question for the adults who support children:

If we want children to use their words, are we intentionally teaching them the words they may need?

Meet Candice N. Jester, Ed.S.

Candice N. Jester is an accomplished educator, literacy leader, and Leadership Effectiveness Coach with more than 30 years of experience in education, including 13 years as an elementary school principal.

Throughout her career, she has served as a classroom teacher, instructional specialist, school improvement specialist, assistant principal, and principal, developing educators, strengthening instructional practices, and helping create school cultures where students can thrive.  

Her leadership and commitment to education have earned significant recognition. Candice was named the 2015–2016 Clayton County Public Schools Principal of the Year and the 2024 Magnet Schools of America Principal of the Year for Region 3.  

Today, she serves as a Leadership Effectiveness Coach with C3 Impact Group.

A former English educator with a Reading Endorsement and specialized training in Literacy Leadership, Candice believes deeply in the power of words, books, and relationships to shape how children see themselves and others.

Her work focuses on literacy not only as a means of improving reading and writing achievement, but also as a way to build student voice, confidence, empathy, resilience, and leadership.  

Five Literacy Competencies That Build Voice and Belonging

Candice's presentation connects five familiar literacy competencies with skills children can use far beyond the classroom.

Vocabulary helps children name what they are experiencing and feeling.

Speaking helps them communicate boundaries, concerns, and needs.

Listening helps them hear and understand another person's perspective.

Reading and comprehension help children analyze situations, motives, actions, and consequences.

Writing and reflection give them an opportunity to process an experience and consider their response.

Those literacy competencies connect directly to self-awareness, advocacy, empathy, critical thinking, and responsible decision-making.  

Literacy, then, becomes more than something children practice during a reading lesson.

It can become one of the tools they use to navigate relationships, communicate experiences, understand other people, and make decisions.

From Bystander to Upstander

Candice will also introduce participants to her Upstander Literacy framework, which helps children move from recognizing a situation to making a safe and responsible choice.

READ IT — Recognize what is happening. What do I notice? What clues help me understand the situation?

NAME IT — Identify the behavior, emotion, or experience. What is happening, and how is it affecting people?

SAY IT — Use language to communicate a boundary, concern, need, or support.

DO SOMETHING — Make a safe, responsible leadership choice: interrupt, include, redirect, report, or seek help.  

What I appreciate about this framework is that it doesn't stop at recognizing a problem.

It moves toward action.

Children can learn to notice what is happening, find language for it, communicate appropriately, and determine what safe and responsible action they can take.

That is where literacy and leadership intersect.

Books Can Become a Place to Practice

Children do not have to wait until they are in the middle of a difficult situation to begin developing these skills.

Literature and text-based discussions can give children opportunities to examine power, perspective, belonging, exclusion, and upstander choices. Candice's session will explore ways adults can use children's literature as a safe place to rehearse responses to situations children may eventually encounter in the real world.  

A story can open the door to questions such as:

What do you notice?

How do you think that person feels?

What could they say?

What could they do?

Who could help?

Those conversations can help children build language before they are faced with a moment when they need to use it.

Words → Voice → Courage → Action → Change

Candice's presentation brings the relationship between literacy, belonging, and leadership together in a powerful progression: 

Literacy gives children the words.

Leadership gives them the courage to use them.

Belonging gives them the confidence to know their voice matters.  

This is why literacy belongs in the Bullying, Literacy, & Leadership Experience.

Bullying, literacy, and leadership are not three unrelated conversations.

Children need the ability to recognize and understand what is happening.

They need words to communicate their experiences.

They need confidence that their voices matter.

And they need opportunities to learn how to use those voices safely and responsibly for themselves and for others.

Join Us at BLLX 2026

The Bullying, Literacy, & Leadership Experience is a one-day, hands-on experience designed for adults who support children at home, in schools, and throughout the community.

Join Candice and the rest of the BLLX team for engaging sessions, practical tools, real conversations, community resources, and an immersive learning experience designed to help adults leave better equipped to support the children in their lives.

Saturday, October 31, 2026
10:00 AM–3:00 PM
Doors open at 9:00 AM

The Morrow Center
Morrow, Georgia 30260

General Admission: $95

Register for the Bullying, Literacy, & Leadership Experience

EQUIPPED ADULTS. STRONGER CHILDREN.