Grade-Level Reading Initiative

Mississippi officials will soon launch a state-wide campaign that aims to connect the community to the classroom.
News 25’s Kendra Turley gives us a closer look at the Grade-Level Reading Initiative in South Mississippi.
Mississippi communities hope to improve literacy among third graders with a new statewide initiative. United Way CEO Cynthia Walker said, “I think there are so many people who want to do something to have students achieve at higher rates, but there’s been no real concrete plans put together that everyone could follow.”
The “Campaign for Grade-Level Reading” initiative unites schools, nonprofits, and business leaders to ensure that students reach grade-level reading by the end of third grade. Ashley Sheils with the Mississippi Campaign for Grade-Level Reading said, “When children are reading on grade-level by the end of third grade their outcomes are much more favorable and much more likely to succeed when they begin the next path of reading to learn.”
Communities who choose to participate work together to create action plans for reading success that focus on three key areas: school readiness, attendance, and extended-learning programs. The goal is to create 10 community partnerships statewide. The City of Gulfport is one of the two communities already involved in the initiative.
United Way was one of the first organizations in Mississippi to participate, joining the effort back in 2012. “We have folks that we’ve met from around the country. We’ve found funders that are paying for programming that we wouldn’t have been able to provide,” said Walker.
Employees with the Port of Gulfport work with students at Gaston Point Elementary School to apply critical thinking to current events and real world situations. Kim Aguillard with the Port of Gulfport said, “If we’re reading about Washington, D.C. then we’ll actually pull up photos of what they can see in Washington, D.C. and kind of give them that hope of what else is out there outside of our community.”
School officials and state leaders hope even more businesses and organizations will join the team to help Mississippi students reach their full potential.