The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Community efforts inspire kids to read
Literacy project puts books in hands of underserved.
During her seven-year tenure as principal at Boyd Elementary, Joi Kilpatrick has made it a point to make her favorite story a “book of the month” selection to read to the entire school. “Epossumondas” also holds a spe- cial connection to her grand- mother.
“She used to read it to me over and over when I was probably 4,” Kilpatrick said. “She had Alzheimer’s, and in one of our last conver- sations, I asked her to tell me that story, and she was able to recall it. That’s the impact reading can have on a child’s life.”
That belief has inspired Kil- patrick to work toward closing the literacy gap for the school’s 450 students. Her goals have been supported through a community part- nership that began in 2015 with the KPMG Family for Literacy program that puts books in the hands of chil- dren who might not other- wise be able to own them. But Ryanne Pennington, whose husband works for the pro- fessional services company, wanted to make the project bigger.
“I knew about Boyd because
my firm, Jones Lang LaSalle, had volunteered with them, and we knew the teachers were working hard to get the reading scores up,” Penning- ton said. “I also knew KPMG hosted book fairs, and it felt like a natural fit to partner with them.”
Pennington added another dimension to the book fair concept by recruiting kids from Morris Brandon Ele- mentary to host it.
“Both of my kids attend Atlanta Public Schools,” she said. “And I felt very called to engage more with our com- munity in a meaningful way and to bring my children along to serve others who are less fortunate.”
Pennington also tapped into her network to raise funds for the fair, and with KPMG’s help, the total came to about
$7,500. The company prepaid for the books so Kilpatrick and the Boyd media team could purchase a range of titles. The result was a pre-holiday event that gave each Boyd student three books.
The day kicked off at Pen- nington’s house with about 20 young volunteers writing inspirational messages on stickers for each book. They then headed to Boyd where the kids managed the affair, from greeting the students as they arrived to help- ing them pick out age-appro- priate materials.
“Our students were so excited,” Kilpatrick said. “Their faces just lit up. One child was looking for a certain book that we only had a few copies of in our library, but they were excited that they could take it home as their own copy. Everybody left the media center with a book they wanted to have.”
Pennington said the Mor- ris Brandon students were just as elated.
“They learned that many kids didn’t have any books at home, and they were proud to help them,” she said. “It was a great experience to see them giving away books to someone else.”
Owning a book that can be read over and over and shared with someone else is the way to keep literacy growing, Kil- patrick said.
“How many children grow up in homes without a library?” she said. “When you have books you read and then pass them on to some- one else, the literacy never stops.”
Kilpatrick said another book fair is in the works for spring. Information on Boyd Elemen- tary is online at atlantapub- licschools.us/boyd.