This week DC Reads brought its mission from Wards 7 and 8 to Georgetown’s front gates with its first annual Education Week.

Through Education Week, DC Reads hoped to translate the necessary connection between D.C. public schools and their neighboring communities to the relationship between the same schools and Georgetown. These bonds will be the foundation for education reform and greater awareness according to Hannah Klusendorf (COL ’12), a DC Reads coordinator and Campus Enrichment Committee member.

“You need to invest in the community if you want to invest in education,” she said.

The week’s events featured a series of panels and parties that included the campus in the discussions about education reform, the social issues surrounding the District’s public schools and other opportunities in the field of education. Approximately 400 Georgetown students work with 220 first to third graders each week in a classroom or one-on-one tutoring format through DC Reads.

Education Week was developed by the DC Reads’ Campus Enrichment Committee, which was established this academic year to increase the visibility of the Districts’ education problems on the Hilltop and unify those student organizations dedicated to tutoring.

“Our mission is not something that only DC Reads hopes to fix,” said Nancy Oduro (NHS ’13), the Campus Enrichment Committee chair. “We all have a common goal, which is to defy the statistics which are plaguing our schools … to close the achievement gap.”

Through this week, DC Reads hopes to serve as an advocate for other university groups and spread of awareness of the issues surrounding education to Georgetown students who cannot commit to a rigorous tutoring schedule. The group opened its panels — normally reserved for tutors — to all Georgetown students and faculty in a desire to reach out to the campus community.

“I hope that education can be that outlet for us all to get together,” Oduro said.

The week opened Monday with a roundtable of student leaders from groups including the After School Kids Program, DC School Project, community service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, Black Student Alliance, NAACP, Georgetown Outreach for Learning and Education and Corp Philanthropy.

Led by Dean Tad Howard, visiting assistant professor of philosophy Heather Voke and assistant professor of sociology Leslie Hinkson, a panel about a possible education minor in the College filled Tuesday’s time slot.

The Ward 7 community member panel Wednesday reinforced the themes of community involvement and the opportunity for education to solve rampant social problems.

“Going to work to break the stigma … is one of my big pushes,” said panelist Marcus Clark, a community center director in the ward. “We need to empower our students to see how important a free education is.”

Education Week also held a post-graduate teaching opportunities panel Thursday and will close with another roundtable discussion today in Reiss 112 at 1 p.m.

Oduro and Klusendorf plan to make Education Week an annual tradition linking DC Reads’ push for education issues awareness with Georgetown’s greater mission.

“We have the time and resources that not everyone else has to make a difference, and I think that it’s about time that, as men and women for others, we recognize that,” Klusendorf said.