Polk County Council for Children and Families rang in 2015 by celebrating its 20-year anniversary as a Georgia Family Connection Collaborative. Health, education, and local government leaders filled the Cedartown Civic Center in January to reflect on the Collaborative’s work over the past two decades, and to prepare for new work.
Reading to her four young children in the 1950s wasn’t an option for MandaLee Johns. “Back then most people didn’t have books in their homes,” said the 82-year-old Folkston resident. “We just couldn’t afford them at the time.” Sadly, families in Charlton County are in the same predicament, today.
Some may think the Get Georgia Reading Campaign for Grade-Level Reading’s expectation to get every child in the state on a path to reading proficiency by third grade by 2020 is too ambitious. But one look at the efforts Charlton County Family Connection is making and it’s easy to see that—with the work of dedicated partners and focused strategies—that expectation is well within reach.
In many ways, Newton County faces a challenge at every turn in its battle against childhood obesity. The county has few recreational facilities, easy access to fast food, the poverty rate is high, and studies show that most children lead a sedentary lifestyle. And while Newton is faring better than the state, which has the nation’s second highest childhood obesity rate, that provides little solace to the Newton County Community Partnership.
Local leaders in Newton County are combating obesity by luring more students away from the TV and onto the Yellow River Water Trail. The goal is to engage the community to get active by getting people out on kayaks and paddleboards to enjoy the river. It’s a fun, healthy form of recreation.
“The purpose of our community Play Day is to encourage children and families to exercise, get outside and play, and think about food choices in a new and different way,” said Zoe Myers, Cook County Family Connection executive director.
“As we began talking about things we could do to make a difference in our county, the one thing that kept coming up was our grade-level reading scores, ” said Beth Capuson, chair of the Seminole County Family Connection Collaborative. “We had several meetings, and at the end it was clear to everyone that we needed to do something that focused on helping our children read better.”
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The Twin Cedars Circle of Care program has two primary goals: To prevent teen mothers from having another unplanned pregnancy and to encourage them to return to high school to earn a diploma or GED.
Heard may have the smallest population of the four counties participating in Georgia Family Connection’s Low-Birthweight cohort, but everyone involved is big on ideas on how to best serve pregnant and parenting women. The challenge is resources for the 301-square-mile county that 11,600 residents call home. With no hospital or obstetrician located within Heard, expectant mothers must travel beyond county lines for prenatal care and delivery. The only place for any type of prenatal information in the county is the health department.
Maria Lara not only believes amazing things can happen when you seize opportunities, she’s living proof. She and her four children, all under age 11, came to the United States from Mexico in 1994. Lara was 34 years old and couldn’t speak a word of English, but she was determined to assimilate to the culture for the benefit of herself and young children.
Countless studies have shown that reading proficiency by third grade is the most significant predictor of high-school graduation and career success. Not one of the most—the most. It is at this crucial juncture in elementary school when a child transitions from learning to read to reading to learn, and if the student isn’t reading on grade level before entering the fourth grade, the consequences can be long term and significant. In Georgia, that translates to nearly 70 percent of students who are at risk of failing or dropping out of school.