Savannah Chatham Schools Celebrate Literacy Week

Article / Video

Savannah Chatham Schools Celebrate Literacy Week

by Anna Stansfield

WTOC | October 16, 2024

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - It’s literacy week for the Savannah Chatham County Public School System.

Through several events during the week, the district has aimed to educate the community on the importance of literacy and how it can impact the trajectory of students' lives.

“Reading is everywhere,” said Benjamin Lam, the principal at Bloomingdale Elementary School. “Everything from can they read a lease later in life, can they read the contract they’re going to sign to take out a loan for a car, can they apply for college?”

Other literacy experts said literacy can even impact your rights as a citizen.

“I mean we talk about voting, but if you can’t read the ballot, what does it matter?” said Kareem Weaver, the executive director of FULCRUM, a non-profit focused on literacy.

Weaver played a big role in this year’s literacy week in the Savannah-Chatham district, noting how much he’s seen teachers, parents and other community members grow in a matter of days.

“I’ve seen some people with some aha moments. We’ve been pushing and challenging each other in good, healthy, constructive ways,” said Weaver.

This week falls a few months after a new literacy curriculum was implemented in the district this fall. “We have to reorient ourselves and learning is tough for adults just like it is for kids,” said Weaver.

School principals, like Lam, said implementation so far has gone well, as teachers tackle the challenge of relearning teaching methods. “They are diving into a text that they really have not had experience with, they’re kind of learning as they go,” said Lam.

While this week focused a lot on teachers and staff it also focused on the community as a whole.

“Literacy is a team sport,” said Weaver. “No one individual or group can do it by themselves.”

And because of that, Weaver said this week tried to bring many people together to focus on literacy.

“The business community, the non-profit sector, parent community and then, of course, your educators, to make sure we’re all on the same page, aligned, moving forward,” said Weaver. “You can’t have people going in different directions. Everyone has to understand the vision. They have to understand how we’re going to get there, so that’s what this week has been about.”

View the original article and watch the video: WTOC.