Cagle Rural Reading Foundation

Cagle Rural Reading is a non-profit with the mission of promoting literacy through technology.

Zane Cagle contributes a portion of his attorney fee from large settlements and trial verdicts directly to The Cagle Rural Reading Foundation. Grant applications are reviewed by the Board of Directors and outstanding submissions are selected to be awarded funding.

Applications are accepted throughout the year with an annual submission deadline of October, 1. More information is available through The Cagle Law Firm (see contact information below) or visit us on Facebook.

The Board of Directors of CRR is comprised of educational experts in the greater St. Louis area, and funding opportunities are available to any educational organization in rural or suburban Missouri including schools, libraries, and pre-K through adult literacy programs.

Literacy Non-Profit Funded by St Louis Personal Injury Attorneys

Zane Cagle is a 1994 graduate of Stockton High School in Stockton, Missouri. Many of Zane’s high school and college teachers and friends know that Zane struggled with literacy well into his college years. His struggle to learn to read and process information was not a reflection on his academic institutions. He feels his teachers, friends and family assisted a great deal in helping him overcome his literacy challenges. Zane stated, “I could not have done it alone. Not being able to read was something that I hid and quite honestly, I deflected attention from it through active participation in sports and other school activities — I was embarrassed. “How did I not learn to read when all of the students around me could?” Zane now has a deeper understanding of his experiences as he explains, “Through my struggle, I had to overcome many challenges both socially and academically. I am a better person from those experiences, however, if our non –profit can assist one person so they do not have to carry around the stigma of being a “non-reader”, then we will feel successful”, Zane further said. “Not being able to read is a lot to carry around personally. As I have children of my own, success in literacy has become increasingly important to me for my children, my client’s children, and the community”.

Because of the positive impact technology made on Zane’s literacy growth, the non-profit elected to include technology as part of its mission in the promotion of literacy. Easy access to the internet opened Zane’s world of reading. “Just the opportunity to access short articles on topics I loved such as sports and cars was a lot less intimidating than tackling a huge novel. I had to use my brain like any other muscle through repetition and attempting to read every day. A strong work ethic was required and I think if there is one thing that I learned from high school athletics and my father, it was the value of a strong work ethic. A strong work ethic is so applicable to everything you do in life.”

The Board of Directors include: President, Dr. Jo Nell Wood, Associate Professor at Saint Louis University; Vice-President, Mary Scheetz, The Waters Foundation; Secretary/Treasurer, Dr. Jo Cagle, The Cagle Law Firm; and; and Rena Rockwell, Director of Professional Development of Ritenour Public Schools. The board members have an educational background with years of expertise from which they developed the mission, grant process, and grant evaluation. The actual grant overview, application, and evaluation are available to anyone or group who wishes to have more information or apply. The Board of Directors has complete discretionary power to review grant applications and award funding.

What is the funding source for Cagle Rural Reading?

Zane contributes a portion of his attorney fee from large settlements and trial verdicts directly to The Cagle Rural Reading Foundation. Grant applications are reviewed by the Board of Directors and outstanding submissions are selected to be awarded funding. Applications are accepted throughout the year with an annual submission deadline of October, 1.

Any educational organization is encouraged to examine their literacy goals and technology needs and specifically how they might be used together. CRR encourages organizations to consider applying for funding assistance. Rural and suburban groups such as schools, libraries and literacy groups are encouraged to apply. Zane has created a YouTube video entitled “The CRR Story” to share his personal literacy story and the reason for starting the foundation.

Cagle has been fortunate to have such a great group of people volunteer to be on the Board of Directors. “It becomes obvious to me daily that the perception of lawyers is that we take and take, yet many attorneys give back to their communities in many different was. Many people talk about giving back to communities and we hope this non-profit will be a tool for us to actually do so” said Cagle.

For Grant Overview, Grant Application and Application Criteria/Evaluation, please see applications and contact information below:

• Download Grant Overview
• Download Grant Application
• Download Grant Application Rubric

Any additional questions?

At The Cagle Law Firm, our St Louis personal injury lawyers are compassionate about protecting and educating the community we serve. For any questions related to our non-profit effort of promoting literacy through technology, send us a message today.