At Lincoln Elementary School in Macomb, there’s a classroom that doesn’t quite look like a classroom.

It might be a pizzeria. It might be a pirate ship. It might be a campsite, a runway, or a soda shop—depending on the month.

But whatever the theme, the mission remains the same: ignite a love of reading.

The room is brought to life by a six-person team of literacy interventionists and a reading coach who work with kindergarten through second grade students across all classrooms. They’re not just instructors—they’re collaborators, imagination architects, and champions of early literacy.

“We all go into every classroom,” says Anna Hanold, one of the team members. “We work with students at all levels—sometimes in small targeted groups, sometimes through schoolwide literacy themes—and we do it in full partnership with the classroom teachers.”

That kind of integration is rare. In many schools, interventionists work in isolation, pulling struggling students into separate spaces. At Lincoln, it’s different. The model is embedded, inclusive, and energetic, blending Response to Intervention (RTI) best practices with schoolwide literacy culture-building.

“Reading is everything,” says Sally Freed. “It’s not just a subject. It’s how they learn every subject. If you can’t read, you can’t do science, or history, or even math.”

The team’s approach leans heavily into creativity. Together, they develop monthly themes that transform their intervention room into a fully immersive reading experience. During “Pizzeria Month,” every child dons a chef’s hat, and each center becomes a station where students mix genres, slice syllables, and serve up summaries.

“They remember the pizzeria,” says Sally Freed. “They remember the superhero month. That’s what sticks. That’s what makes them love it.”

These themed literacy experiences are far from fluff—they’re aligned to grade-level expectations and built around the skills students most need to review. The team meets regularly to identify learning gaps, craft differentiated activities for each grade, and plan how best to reinforce core skills while keeping the magic alive.

“It’s the best job in the building,” says Jenny Butterfield, smiling. “We get to work across all the grades, in all the classrooms, and we get to build relationships not just with students, but with every teacher. We’re always learning from each other.”

And those relationships are what make it work. The students know them. Trust them. Love them.

“I was a struggling reader myself,” says Amy Bear. “I know what it feels like to try and hide it, to pretend you understand when you don’t. That’s why I do this work. I want to be the person who notices. Who helps.”

The support goes beyond phonics and fluency. Many small group sessions organically evolve into check-ins, heart-to-hearts, moments of care.

“Some of our groups turn into mini-counseling sessions,” says Lori McGruder. “Because if a child doesn’t feel safe or seen, they’re not going to take a risk. They’re not going to try to read,” Says Jenny Butterfield

That care stretches outside the classroom. It’s not uncommon to see members of the team cheering on their students at t-ball games or running into them at Walmart. “When they see you out in the community,” says Jenny, “it reminds them you’re real. That you care.”

It’s not just students who benefit. The teachers do, too. The collaborative model creates space for cross-pollination of teaching strategies—especially valuable in a school where staff come from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels.

“I worked with a first-year kindergarten teacher this year,” Jenny says. “And I learned so much from her. You get to see how different people teach and pick up new tools all the time.”

And the impact is spreading. Principal Mr. Bryan has championed a shift in the literacy model that allows this team to work not just with struggling readers, but with all students—offering enrichment and intervention alike. It’s a schoolwide approach to reading success that elevates the floor and the ceiling.

There’s a lot of talk in education about the importance of foundational skills. What Lincoln’s team shows is that foundations don’t have to be dry or rigid. They can be joyful. Playful. Even theatrical.

One month at a time, one chef’s hat at a time, they’re building not just readers—but a lifelong love of reading.

And one day, some of those readers will look back and say, “Remember the pizzeria?”