Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson recently kicked-off the Mayor's Book Club Summer Reading Program for students in the Norcross Cluster Schools Partnership. Every other week through August 5th, students have the opportunity to check out books and log their accomplishments to showcase at a celebration event August 5.
Earlier this year, NCSP began seeking donations to collect 4,000 books for the summer reading program. To everyone's delight, NCSP received 40,000 books from a collection group in addition to books donated from the community.
Books not needed for the mayor's reading club were donated to Beaver Ridge Elementary School for their yearly book mobile that visits local apartment complexes once a week for four weeks during the summer.
Peachtree Corners Planning Commission Board Member Alan Kaplan also worked with several apartment complexes serving Peachtree Elementary and Pinckneyville Middle School to create the 'Summer Satellite Reading Program.' Then, more than 100 teachers from the Norcross and Meadowcreek Clusters were invited to select books for their classrooms and parents.
"Literacy skills are closely linked to the probability of having a good job, decent earnings, and access to training opportunities," explains Mayor Johnson. "Our teachers set rigorous standards during the school year, so growing those skills during summer vacation puts the kids that much further ahead when they return to school in the fall."
Books above the cluster students' reading levels, or those found inappropriate for the classroom, will be sold at the Norcross Art Fest Oct. 11 and 12.
Want to help reward student reading efforts? NCSP is seeking donations of $10 gift cards to be given to students at the end of summer celebration August 5. Information: www.norcrosscsp.org/mayors_book_club.aspx.
