On Tuesday, March 14, Griffin-Spalding County Schools (GSCS) hosted its second annual district-wide Real Men Read event. Nearly 100 men from the community read at all 11 GSCS elementary schools between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Between six and 16 men reported to each elementary school and volunteered to read to three or four classrooms. Every pre-k through fifth-grade student in the district enjoyed a guest reader. This district-wide literacy event furthers the district’s instructional vision for student success which state that students will Read, Write, Speak and Solve grade-level texts and tasks daily.
This event began as a district-one initiative of Board of Education Chairman R. Syntel Brown and has grown into a district-wide event. Chairman Brown stated, “Myself, and the rest of the board, are sincerely appreciative to all of the community members who were role models for GSCS scholars today. Literacy is a fundamental building block of education. We need to do all that we can to help scholars realize that reading is cool.”
GSCS hosts two annual literacy events that enlist public participation to model their love of reading. Real Men Read is held in the Spring and Pearls, Pumps and Books, where women from the community read to students, takes place in the Fall.
According to the Georgia Reading Council, “Students who do not read proficiently by the end of the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school compared to proficient readers.” According to the Georgia Department of Education Whole Child Tool Kit, “For children and youth, the most important academic milestone is reading at a proficient level by the end of the third grade.” The National Center for Educational Statistics published data gathered from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test that showed that the National data and Georgia data both aligned precisely with only 32% of students who had completed the third-grade reading at or above a proficient level. The National Center for Education Statistics also published data in 2019 showing that 12% fewer male students were proficient readers compared to female students at the completion of third grade.
GSCS Executive Director of Communication and Partnerships Adam Pugh said, “Real Men Read strives to show all students the importance of reading but it also hopes to show boys that it is cool to grow up into men who are intelligent and well-educated. We are so thankful for our Partners in Education that took time away from their businesses, churches and organizations to invest in our students and support our staff.”
Those in the community interested in being a mentor for a student may contact Kathy Rhodes with the Spalding Collaborative at 404-316-2704 or at kathy@spaldingcollaborative.com. Community members can also donate children’s books to fill little free libraries in the depository box at First National Bank or support the Ferst Foundation for childhood literacy www.ferstreaders.org and select Spalding County in the drop-down. The Ferst Foundation provides books (one a month in the mail) to children from birth to age five. Ferst Foundation data says that 66% of homes in Spalding County do not have suitable reading material for children. A Georgia Reading Council report stated, “Getting more kids to read takes more than good schools, more than great teachers and more than loving parents, it takes all of us working together.”
The following businesses and organizations had representatives that participated in Real Men Read today: Chick-fil-A Griffin, U-Save-It Pharmacy, Hobbs Pharmacy, Brightmoor Healthcare, Robinette Consulting, Connor Westbury Funeral Home, City of Griffin, Spalding County, Keller Williams Realty, Glass Pest Control, Union Baptist Church, Carver Road Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church, Journey Church, Eagles Way Church, New Mercy Baptist Church, Eagles Landing Church, City Church, Oak Hill Church, GSCS, Griffin-Spalding Board of Education, City of Griffin Fire Department, Spalding County Fire Department, Spalding County Sheriff’s Department, Kiwanis, T-Mobile, United Christian Fellowship, Breakthrough Church, Food Depot, Griffin High Football, Spalding High Football, P.B.S. Realty, Mount Zion Baptist Church, National Break and Muffler, Cronic Automate Group, Urban Outreach, Kizzy Cakes, Vulcan Materials, Retired Educators, Griffin City Council, Spalding County Board of Commissioners and more.