Noon Rotary’s Literacy Focus Helps Local Organizations & Schools

0
176

The Rotary Club of Murfreesboro has taken on literacy as the club’s major focus. In the last two months they (in partnership with the Murfreesboro Breakfast and Smyrna Rotary Clubs) have provided dictionaries to every third grader in Rutherford and Cannon Counties, and they have recently donate $5,000 to both Read to Succeed (RTS) and Southeastern Young Adult Book Festival (SE-YA).

It is estimated by Literacy Mid-South that over 30 million people in the United States read at an elementary school level, which leads to poverty and dependency. As the world becomes more technology based, reading is the key to good jobs as we are becoming more and more interconnected through written Internet communication.

Literacy Mid-South also notes on their website that 70% of eighth graders in Tennessee read at or below proficiency for their grade level. And at a national level, 50% of all high school seniors read below proficiency, lowering their ability to get decent post-secondary training for a job without acquiring additional reading skills.

As far as adults, almost a quarter of the population doesn’t read well enough to fill out a job application or read a simple book to a child.

“The club voted to have literacy become our focus about two years ago,” said Club President Barbara Sutton. “The ability to read and write is important to career success and opportunity. Reducing illiteracy in our county is one of the key elements in the new Murfreesboro Rotary Club strategic plan for the next five years.”

Rotary Club of Murfreesboro first got involved with RTS a few years ago when Gib Backland, recently retired from his position as Chief of Operations at Stones River Battlefield, was club president.
Backland competed in Read to Succeed’s annual Read to Bee, celebrity spelling bee the year he was president. He has continued to work as the club’s liaison with the organization as it supports RTS’s Adult Literacy Program.

“The Murfreesboro Rotary Club was happy to present a check for $5000 to Read to Succeed to support their adult literacy programs,” said Backland. “By focusing on literacy, the club hopes to have a greater impact in this area.”

Last year the club invested in the inaugural Southeastern Young Adult Book Festival. The Festival was created by Media Specialists working in the libraries of several different Rutherford County schools. The group went to a similar event in another state several years ago, and were so overwhelmed by the response they saw from the middle and high school students attending, that they decided that there needed to be one in Murfreesboro. When one of these ladies spoke to the club in late 2015, the club saw that SE-YA was a great opportunity to fulfill their goal to promote literacy in the county.

“Last year I had the privilege to volunteer my time at SE-YA,” said club member, Lee Rennick. “During all my time working with students in both county school systems through the Business Education Partnership, I never saw a group of kids so engaged. They totally connected with the authors who spoke, and asked in depth questions of them. Best of all, they were buying and reading their books!”

The three Rotary Clubs in the county work together to see that every third grader receives their own dictionary. While we are becoming a digital age, the students absolutely love having their own personal dictionary. President-elect Ann Clark recently passed the coordinator duties on to club member Nicki King.

“The vision of the dictionary project,” said King, “is to enhance literacy, improve communications skills, and provide a reference for the students for years to come. By providing students with their own personal dictionaries, the goal is to encourage students to become resourceful learners, active readers, and good writers.”

“The Murfreesboro Rotary Club intends to continue their support of literacy organizations and activities,” said Sutton, “and we hope to have a significant impact working with these groups to decrease illiteracy among all of our residents.”