Readers to Leaders Program Receives Four for the Future Award

On May 24, 2013 a press release was circulated regarding the “Four For The Future” award received by the Dalton-Whitfield Archway Partnership and the local Readers to Leaders literacy initiative.  Please see press release below.

This year, Georgia Trend and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia announced a new award called Four for the Future which recognizes community collaboration, leadership, and innovation. The purpose of this award is to acknowledge communities and regions that worked across public-private sectors and non-profit boundaries on challenging issues that ultimately will lead to an improved quality of life. On April 15, 2013, the Readers to Leaders Program in Dalton was awarded one of the Four for the Future Awards for an effort focused on getting every student reading at grade level by the third grade. 

Local representatives receive the Four for the Future award.  Pictured left to right: Jennifer Frum, University of Georgia Vice President of Public Service and Outreach; Neely Young, Georgia Trend; Mayor David Pennington, City of Dalton; Pam Partain, Chair of Readers to Leaders initiative; Michael Adams, University of Georgia President.

In June 2012, civic leaders in Whitfield County and Dalton announced a major commitment to public education through an initiative called Readers to Leaders (R2L) with the goal of getting every student reading at grade level by the third grade. Equally impressive was the fact that leaders from every major community stakeholder, the City of Dalton, Whitfield County, Dalton Public Schools (DPS), Whitfield County Schools (WCS) and the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce had skin in the game.

The R2L initiative is an outgrowth of community conversations guided by professionals from the Archway Partnership, a unit of UGA’s Public Service and Outreach division. The Archway Partnership was introduced to Dalton-Whitfield County in 2009. One of the key areas on which the group focused their attention was early literacy. “One negative statistic after another is associated with [an] inability to read at grade level by third grade,” Melissa Lu, Archway Professional says. “Creating Readers to Leaders is our community’s way of saying that we’re not going to let that happen to us.  We’re going to make sure we are doing everything we can to get our students on grade level at an early age.”

One of the key elements of the R2L program is a comprehensive, nationally recognized literacy program, the Literacy Collaborative, which was already in place in Dalton City Schools. But in an unusual move, and with the backing of the city and county governments and local chamber of commerce, the city and county school systems decided to partner, sharing resources and implementing the Literacy Collaborative in county schools as well.

In another bold step, the city, Chamber of Commerce, UGA’s College of Education and the Archway Partnership are funding a Birth-to-Age-Five Education professional for Dalton-Whitfield County. This new position will help fill in the gaps, addressing community needs related to school readiness in preschool-aged children.

Pictured left to right:  Sue Chapman, University of Georgia Archway Partnership; Superintendent Jim Hawkins, Dalton Public Schools; Mayor David Pennington, City of Dalton; Pam Partain, Chair of Readers to Leaders initiative; Superintendent Judy Gilreath, Whitfield County Schools; Barbara Ward, Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce and Joint Development Authority; Chairman Louis Fordham, Whitfield County School Board

The community also passed a five-year Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) in July 2012. E-SPLOST funds will go toward infrastructure improvements, technology upgrades and debt retirement.

The public responded to the initiative with enthusiasm and, importantly, participation. “For our first Community Literacy Celebration, the goal was to have 200 people show up,” Lu says. “Over 2,000 people came. We saw parents hungry for ways to teach their children. We knew we were on to something. Families wanted this support and would come to events if we provided them.”

 “The communities we are recognizing are showing great foresight in investing their time and energy in a way that will have a payoff in the long term,” says Jennifer Frum, Vice President of Public Service and Outreach. “In some cases, this has meant making some fairly tough decisions in the present. It’s great to see, because it’s going to benefit all of Georgia.”