Telegraph Staff Writer
Ferst Readers Program Manager Michelle Maddox, with some help from Starke Head Start students and staff, accepted a $9,000 check as part of Clay Electric’s Operation Round Up.
The money will help Ferst Readers in addressing the problem of children — especially from low-income families — entering kindergarten without basic early literacy skills. Specifically, the Clay Electric grant will benefit 150 children at Starke Head Start and Bradford Pre-School as well as approximately 1,050 children in Baker and Volusia counties.
Ferst Readers, named after founder Robin Ferst, mails a book and resources — free of charge — to a child’s home every month until the child’s fifth birthday. Books and resources are also provided to pre-school and Head Start classrooms.
“They say the number-one predictor of school success is having books in the home — just having access to them,” Maddox said.
Some families are in situations where they can’t buy books. For some, Maddox said, it comes down to having to buy milk or medicine, for example, rather than buying a book. That was even more true in 2020 because of the pandemic and how it affected families.
However, Ferst Readers provided a bright spot for many families last year. Reading, of course, creates opportunities for parents to bond with their children, but many parents told Maddox that reading with their children also provided a bit of an escape from the “chaos” that was 2020.
“I hate to say 2020 had something good, but there was something good that came out of it,” Maddox said. “(Parents) were still receiving a book and still able to do that with their children without having to worry about paying for the book.”
It’s not just providing families and their children with books, but age-appropriate books specifically. Maddox said some parents may not have a clue which books to buy for their children. They may see a Harry Potter book, for example, and just assume that’s a children’s book. However, none of the Harry Potter books are written at the appropriate level for pre-school students.
“It’s better to be able to give them something and know that it’s age-appropriate — that they have what they need to build that background knowledge and those vocabulary skills before they go to kindergarten,” Maddox said.
Maddox said all you have to do to see the need for getting books into homes is visit a kindergarten class during the first week of school. She said you’ll see children who have no idea how to even hold a book or turn its pages.
“If they have that exposure before school, it becomes automatic,” Maddox said. “It’s instilled in them.”
More than 90 Ferst Readers programs exist in 81 counties in the United States, providing free books to more than 43,000 children each month. The program was founded in 1999 following a study that revealed 61 percent of low-income families didn’t have a single children’s book at home. Research has shown that children from low-income families hear 32 million fewer words from birth to age 3 than children from “professional” homes.
According to the Ferst Readers website, research has also shown that the number of books in a home correlates with higher reading scores and that children who have not already developed some basic literacy practices when they enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out.
To provide one child with a book every month costs Ferst Readers $36 per year.
Visit ferstreaders.org to learn more.
Ferst Readers’ application to Clay Electric’s Operation Round Up program was one of 11 approved for the month of October, resulting in the co-op providing a total of $80,210 to various organizations.
Clay Electric implemented Operation Round Up in 2016. The program “rounds up” each participating member’s bill to the nearest dollar, and that tax-deductible amount goes directly to the Clay Electric Foundation. The average amount any given member donates is just $0.50 per month, with the maximum being $11.88 per year.
The program is voluntary, though members are automatically enrolled and need to opt out if they choose to not participate.
Operation Round Up’s goal is to address charitable needs in the 14 counties Clay Electric serves. Its major areas of focus are community service, education and youth, and disaster relief.
One of the October applications that was approved resulted in Communities in Schools of Bradford County receiving $11,500 to support its goal of increasing the graduation rate of Bradford students.
Some other recipients of Operation Round Up grants this year include:
—Santa Fe College, $15,000 in support of Veterans Bridge Scholarship to help veterans transfer from the military to school.
—Soldiers Freedom Outdoors, $3,900 for improvements to the organization’s ranch house as part of its horse therapy program.
—Friends of KHHS, $7,500 to purchase instruments and accessories for the Keystone Heights High School music program.
—Melrose Volunteer Fire Department, $7,500 for building renovations.
—Fellowship Baptist Food Pantry in Raiford, $5,000 to purchase freezer equipment.
—Concerned Citizens of Bradford County, $5,600 to support its summer day camp.
In total, Clay Electric has awarded a total of $636,110 in 2021.
For more information about Operation Round Up, visit clayelectric.com, click on the Community and Education tab.
