Students at Hesse K-8 were among the first students to receive their very own books compliments of the "All Aboard The Reading Express" federal funding grant. On October 1, 2021, SCCPSS Department of Academic Affairs was awarded an Innovative Approaches to Literacy Federal Grant to implement the “All Aboard the Reading Express" project to leverage community and school partnerships to enhance literacy opportunities and access to free language-appropriate books for students in the Savannah-Chatham County community. This project focuses on eleven (11) schools that serve a high population of English-Language Learners (ELL) and will also focus on urban, rural, and/or Economically Disadvantaged (ED) communities. The goal of this grant is to provide free access to language-appropriate books for students within our community and schools serving our English-Language Learners. Books for school libraries and at-home libraries will be purchased and literacy instruction will be provided to parents. The grant will also enable a partnership between Curtis V. Cooper health clinics and SCCPSS to provide books at annual visits from birth to age four.
SCCPSS English-Language Learner Backpack Buddies Book program provides free grade-appropriate, multicultural, and multilingual books to build at-home libraries for students and their families to nurture the love of reading and increase access to books. The September 26th event was the first book distribution of numerous community literacy activities to come through the literacy initiative.
"We want to provide reading materials for these students to help them learn, as well as instill a lifelong love of reading," said Rebekah Hein , IAL Teacher Specialist for SCCPSS. "These books are theirs to keep! Helping families help their children to read is an important part of this strategy, so we will hold regular events in all 11 schools to provide training and tips for parents. This is a five-year grant that will allow us to serve these students as they grow in skill and ability."
For more pictures from the event, click here.
