DECATUR --The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded Decatur Middle School a $2,000 grant to support youth literacy Sept. 9. This local grant is part of $4.5 million in youth literacy grants awarded to approximately 1,000 organizations across the 43 states that Dollar General serves. Given at the beginning of the academic school year, these grants are aimed at supporting teachers, schools and organizations with resources to strengthen and enhance literacy instruction.
"The development of literacy skills is such an important part of education," said Joli Sotallaro, an eighth grade teacher at Decatur Middle School. "Having higher reading skills correlates to higher test scores, higher GPAs and better paying jobs. Being able to give the students choices in what they read and exposure to all different kinds of reading material is paramount to their success later in life. This program aims to help students develop the necessary reading skills and foster a love of reading that helps students become lifelong readers."
Decatur Middle School is implementing a new literacy program based on Lucy Calkin's curriculum. Students are placed into book clubs with a group of their peers at a similar reading level. They are able to choose books from a large list of titles from many different genres in the book room that meet their interests. Teachers read aloud a text in class to promote fluency and introduce grade-level concepts for analysis and interpretation. Students are able to immediately apply what they are learning in class to the books that they are reading in their book clubs. The money received from the grant will help to expand the titles in the book room so that all students are able to find something they enjoy reading. It also promotes reading across different genres as students are able to select books from both fiction and nonfiction categories.
"By awarding these grants, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is committed to making a meaningful impact in our local communities," said Todd Vasos, Dollar General's chief executive officer. "These grants provide funds to support youth literacy initiatives and educational programs throughout the communities we serve to ensure a successful academic year for students."
Committed to helping increase the literacy skills of individuals of all ages, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $127 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping nearly 7.9 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education since its inception in 1993. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards grants each year to nonprofit organizations, schools and libraries within a 20-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center to support adult, family, summer and youth literacy programs.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation also supports customers interested in learning how to read, speak English or prepare for the high school equivalency test. At the cash register of every Dollar General store, customers may pick up a brochure with a postage-paid reply card that can be mailed in for a referral to a local organization that offers free literacy services.
General News on 09/14/2016