Adairsville Elementary Reading Project Transforms Families

CARTERSVILLE, GA - From Bartow County School System: Bartow County children of all ages embark on adventures every single day. Some are big, others are little, but all are educational. If you ask first-grade students and parents at Adairsville Elementary School what their favorite adventure was this year, most would say The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane Reading Project.

To understand the importance of the project, you must first understand the book’s storyline. Edward Tulane is a china rabbit who passes through the fingertips of an affluent girl, fisherman’s family, hobo, and a toddler with a life-threatening disease. Kate DiCamillo’s novel holds several themes involving loss, kindness, compassion and the journey to self-discovery.

Paperback books often lose out to PlayStation games or paid annual Netflix subscriptions. In fact, some teachers say reading is now, unfortunately, a lost art as children compete for more and more screen time. Recognizing that trend, a first-grade teacher at Adairsville Elementary School set out to connect more students with books and more families with bonding opportunities. So, with the purchase of more than a dozen Kate DiCamillo books through a Bartow Education Foundation grant, students started their seven-week voyage.

Educators wrapped the books, sent them home with families, and asked parents to read one chapter with their child every night. Upon completion, the Adairsville Library opened their doors for a cake-filled celebration. Books were hard to part with but lovingly handed over to their teacher, so another class could jump into an adventure of their own.

It is a simple concept that is truly changing Adairsville families. Parents reading aloud to their children sparks a new-found interest in books, prompts important discussions and raises the bar for academic success. By reading books several grade levels ahead, children are exposed to more vocabulary words, able to draw conclusions and make predictions. Teachers say children are also more attentive and focused as a result of this new literacy initiative.

Six-year-old Makayla Powell’s mother, Farrah Finley, says, “This program helped me teach my children that life has challenges. Life is not all rainbows. Sometimes life can show us love, hurt, loss, and struggles. But, the true meaning is how you persevere through life and what you can learn from those challenges.”

Children and families are forming new reading habits and their younger siblings are joining in. Six-year-old Hayley McClure’s mother, Chasity, admits, “Life is hard enough, especially for working parents. We fail as parents to make time for our children. We’re always too busy. This has made me make time for my child. She was telling me every day, ‘Mama, we got to go read.’ Just the excitement in her voice and the smiles I received through every chapter made me realize that this needs to be done daily.”

Bonds between children and parents are formed before the third chapter ends. A love of learning is instilled before the tenth chapter and by the end, dozens have new library cards and memories of one “miraculous” journey.

Photo courtesy of Bartow County School System