Updated: Sep 6
– Richmond County is one of four Georgia communities convening a wide array of stakeholders to understand the state’s literacy crisis and join forces to develop an action plan for literacy improvements throughout the life cycle.
In response to a Deloitte study showing the impact of low literacy on Georgia’s economy and workplace, Literacy For All,the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education convened a statewide business-led commission, the GeorgiaLiteracy Commission (Commission), comprised of Chief Executive Officers, high-ranking business executives, and state agency heads. The Commission held meetings throughout Georgia and heard from state and private experts who shared data-driven content relating to every age learner to explore the lifecycle of low literacy, understand root causes and motivation for positive change, and identify a blueprint for sustainable, practical, aligned, and actionable solutions that could be executed at the state and local levels.
Literacy For All is taking the lead to implement the Commission’s recommended initiatives for literacy improvements that will create a culture of literacy in communities throughout Georgia leading to prepared local workforces and thriving economies.
Richmond joins Bibb, Colquitt and Lowndes Counties in testing e-Sources that were developed as tools to implement the Commission’s initiatives. These e-Sources focus on three of the Georgia Literacy Commission’s recommendations: improving access to and quality of summer and afterschool programs, leveraging housing communities to provide access to literacy programs and increasing awareness of adult education programs.
The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area hosted last week’s launch at the Augusta Library. Community leaders attending included a wide array of interested stakeholders including representatives from literacy and education nonprofit organizations, school system and college personnel, housing authority representatives, elected officials, private business representatives, chambers of commerce presidents, child care providers, members of the faith-based community.
“We at the Community Foundation in Augusta are so pleased to be partnering with Literacy For All and the Georgia Literacy Commission to convene our community around the topic of literacy in Richmond County and share the Commission’s recommendations. Our community has recognized the challenges - particularly in early childhood and adult literacy - and are ready to come together with the Richmond County School System to align efforts, leverage partnerships and focus on literacy improvements from birth through adult years.”- Shell K. Berry, President/CEO Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area ###
The Georgia Literacy Commission is a business-led group comprised of Chief Executive Officers, high-ranking business executives, and government agency heads from across the state. The Commission held meetings throughout Georgia and heard from state and private experts who shared data-driven content relating to every age learner to explore the lifecycle of low literacy, understand root causes and motivation for positive change, and identify a blueprint for sustainable, practical, aligned, and actionable solutions that could be executed at the state and local levels. In November 2017, the Commission released a set of immediately actionable recommendations that can be implemented in communities throughout Georgia.
The Commission also recommended policy and funding for the 2019 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Commission recommendations can be found at: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/8b6097_b9a2d8af9dba471d82d92b2de1386dec.pdf
The Georgia Literacy Commission’s e-Sources:
Members of the Commission, its Advisory Committee and other experts examined programming and evidence-based successes in Georgia. They assembled e-Sources as a simple way for any community to adopt suggested literacy practices and programming relating to summer and afterschool, housing and adult literacy.
Literacy For All is a movement to end low literacyin Georgia by cultivating, aligning and funding multigenerational approaches for statewide change. Additional information can be found at www.literacyforallfund.org
The mission of The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area is to encourage and promote philanthropy through education, responsible management of charitable contributions and the distribution of these funds, and to provide the conduit for this to be accomplished by individuals, companies, private foundations and organizations. More information can be found athttps://www.cfcsra.org