Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives in Cobb, Dalton, and Dooly Counties Named Inaugural Georgia Reads Communities
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Three Georgia Family Connection Collaboratives were recently named inaugural Georgia Reads Communities. Cobb Collaborative, Dalton/Whitfield County Family Connection, and Dooly County Community Enrichment Coalition each received $25,000 in grant funding to bolster literacy initiatives.
Georgia Reads recognized 10 new communities at the Capitol during Georgia Reads Day on Feb. 25. The event was hosted by the Georgia Council on Literacy, Georgia Municipal Association, Georgia Forward, and Share the Magic Foundation.
Recipients represent community partnerships that, over the past three to five years, set goals for literacy improvements and made proven progress meeting those goals. Each community will participate in a Reading Rally led by former UGA Bulldog wide receiver, Super Bowl champion, and author Malcolm Mitchell, CEO and founder of the Share the Magic Foundation, who also serves as the Georgia Reads Coach.
Dooly County Community Enrichment Coalition Fosters Strong Partnerships with Local Schools and Libraries
According to the latest Georgia KIDS COUNT data, 12.5% of third graders in Dooly County achieved Proficient Learner or above on the Milestones ELA assessment, compared to 38.7% in Georgia. Dooly County Community Enrichment Coalition is working to improve that score.
The Georgia Family Connection Collaborative spearheads Dooly County’s efforts as a Get Georgia Reading Campaign for Grade-Level Reading community, serving children, families, and the community through a variety of programs and services.
The Coalition oversees Little Free Libraries, provides nutrition-related books to families through the Dooly County Health Department, and regularly shares information and tips from Get Georgia Reading and The Basics program to parents on the importance of early literacy and reading at home.
Strong partnerships with Dooly County School System and Dooly County Library have resulted in reading days, literacy nights, book bashes, and special literacy events, such as Reading with Santa and Seuss on the Loose Day.
“We’re thankful for such an amazing school system that’s always working tirelessly to not only improve literacy in Dooly County but also to create a love of reading in our children,” said Amanda O’Neal, Dooly County Community Enrichment Coalition coordinator. “They worked so hard on this grant and deserve all the praise for our designation. We look forward to using these funds to supplement our already amazing work in literacy.”
Dalton/Whitfield County Family Connection Focuses on Access to Language-Rich Environments
Partners across the Dalton/Whitfield community have been collaboratively working to support literacy efforts in the community for the past several years—from leading The Basics classes for parents, to facilitating summer literacy feeding sites, to handing out books at sporting events.
“We’re focused on access, which is one of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign’s four-pillar framework,” said Malisa Pedro. “Many community events and our Little Free Libraries include giving away free books so families can build their own home libraries. We aim to provide access to language-rich environments, which will then help to improve both kindergarten readiness and third-grade reading proficiency scores.”
Education is one of six strategic priorities for Believe Greater Dalton, the community’s strategic planning initiative through the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce. One objective of this strategy is improving outcomes in third-grade reading proficiency and college and career readiness. In Whitfield County, 35.4% of third graders are achieving Proficient Learner or above on the Milestones ELA assessment.
Believe Greater Dalton represents collaborative efforts between Dalton Public Schools and Whitfield County Schools and their “Dalton Reads” and “One Whitfield Reads” campaigns, which are supported by several partners, including Dalton-Whitfield Family Connection.
The grant funding will expand annual literacy events, such as Slide into Summer Reading and Back to School Bashes, and each school system will receive funding to host family literacy nights.
Cobb Collaborative Emphasizes Importance of Positive Early Childhood Experiences
Cobb Collaborative engages a cross-sector group of advocates engaged in work grounded in The Basics Cobb County, a public health strategy to embed evidence-based practices for promoting early childhood development into routine family engagement efforts.
The Collaborative is the local point of contact for the Get Georgia Reading Campaign and emphasizes the importance of positive early childhood experiences through the intersection of The Basics Cobb County and their work with Resilient Georgia.
“We communicate the importance of the reading brain being built in the first three years of life through child-caregiver interactions,” said Cobb Collaborative Executive Director Irene Barton. “We’ve seen strides in reading proficiency over the past three years with the full implementation of strategies rooted in the science of reading across Cobb County, particularly in Marietta City Schools.”
Cobb Collaborative has worked with partners to lead 179 “Playground Palooza” workshops since 2022, engaging 4,762 parents, caregivers, and children. Facilitators highlight the role of play in building the reading brain, distribute resources, and encourage families to sign up for the Insights texting service.
The Collaborative launched a family reading kit program in 2023 that includes a book from a list curated by Emily Lembeck Early Learning Center in Marietta, a hands-on activity that supports the book’s theme, an insert with guiding questions and suggested activities, and resources from Cobb County Public Library System. Distribution has nearly tripled since its inception to include 290 families.
This grant will allow the Collaborative to deepen its work in South Cobb by sustaining the family reading kit project, creating another environmental project to build on its Basics Preschool Nature Trail created in 2024, enrolling more families in the texting service, and replicating its Family Ambassador program.
The Collaborative also aims to recruit and train four Literacy Ambassadors to serve South Cobb over the next year. These ambassadors will help communicate the importance of reading aloud and engaging emerging readers—and empower parents and caregivers to play an active role in early language nutrition.
Learn more about Georgia Family Connection’s work to improve literacy across the state.
Contact:
Krystin Dean
GaFCP Communications Specialist
706-897-4711
krystin@gafcp.org
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