CONCORD, N.C. — Education leaders in Cabarrus County are seeking solutions to the lack of reading skills for some students.
Troy Selberg hopes that helping students with their reading skills will help open the next chapter in their lives.
Selberg is the board chair of the Cabarrus County Education Foundation. During the pandemic, the non-profit launched the Reading + Mentoring 4 Success program.
“Speaking to the business community about what will be a big impact for you in a job market for children coming up, and the reading part just stood out time and time and time again. If you’re not on a third-grade reading level, you can’t succeed in life,” Selberg explained.
The program, geared towards students in first and second grade, aims to make sure students get to that level. It involves a three-prong approach, which pairs students with mentors and helps students build their own personal library through an event called Book-A-Palooza. It also encourages them to enjoy reading.
“Because my parents were readers and always had books, I guess I was going to eventually love to learn to read anyway,” said Lenora Adams-Tibbs.
Adams-Tibbs is a mentor in the program. She said she saw a lot of growth from her mentee.
“First, we started with graphic novels because he liked comic books, and then we were able to venture into some other areas," she said. "What I saw the most and what I saw the most from him was not just his confidence grow, but his behavior in the classroom."
The CCEF said 54% of third graders in the county read at grade level. Since launching Reading + Mentoring 4 Success, the nonprofit said it has hosted over a thousand tutoring sessions. They also said they have noticed a 120-point average growth on Amplify Testing for students in the program. Selberg said that kind of growth is critical as the world around Cabarrus County students grows too.
“We’re on the I-85 corridor, one of the fastest-growing corridors in the United States. Cabarrus County has just recently taken in a lot of businesses," he said. "All of these people are looking for these high-tech jobs that are going to require a higher education of employee. Once we get the third-grade reading level to where we need it, we believe it’s going to make a huge impact in the community.”
Selberg also said one of the challenges the program faces is having space to store books for students who collect books during Book-A-Palooza. The CCEF is also working on partnerships and recruiting mentors.
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Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.