Value added - USG serves Georgia [Aug. 2008]

VALUE ADDED: USG Serves Georgia

August 2008

VSU `Study Buddies' Help Elementary-School Kids Succeed on CRCT
Third graders at Parker Mathis Elementary had good reason to celebrate this summer. The entire third-grade class passed the reading portion of the Criterion-Reference Competency Test (CRCT). The students reached this milestone with assistance from Valdosta State University (VSU) education majors, who mentored the third graders and provided support in the areas of reading and language arts.

More than 70 VSU students enrolled in Reading 4100 (a senior-level early-education course) spent one-on-one mentoring time with the third graders at Parker Mathis Elementary School under the supervision of Dr. Evan Ortlieb, assistant professor, early childhood and special education.
The program provides an opportunity for college students to combine theory with practical

VSU student Megan Evans helps Leah Powell, a student at Parker Mathis Elementary School.
field experience and engage in direct interaction with school-age children. College students provide a buddy system that uses interactive methods such as guided reading and writing and vocabulary-based activities to improve literacy development.

See "STUDY BUDDIES," p. 2...

Inspiring Georgia Children to Read More
University of West Georgia President Beheruz N. Sethna has a passion for reading and has often participated in reading aloud to young children at schools and libraries. His willingness to engage in animated discussion about three pigs with a penchant for building houses led recently to being featured on a promotional poster for the Georgia Department of Education's Georgia Read More Literacy Program.
He keeps company in the reading poster series with such Georgia luminaries as former President Jimmy Carter, Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, country singer Travis Tritt and Leah Ward Sears, Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.
See "DR. SETHNA," p. 2...

VALUE ADDED USG Serves Georgia

Another National Award for Pinewoods Library in Athens
The Athens Regional Library System's (ARLS) Pinewoods Library and Community Learning Center which won a national Library Innovation Award last summer is again in the national spotlight.
The latest accolade for this facility, whose patrons are almost all residents of the Pinewoods Estates Mobile Home Park in Athens, comes from the National Recreation and Park Association, which recently awarded the center the 2008 Dorothy Mullen National Arts and Humanities Award.

Miguel Vicente, coordinator of the Pinewoods Library and Community Learning Center
The award honors the most innovative and effective arts and humanities programs in the United States.
"Through a 25-person advisory committee and Pinewoods Mobile Home Park residents, the library system has been able to develop programs that respond to the needs of the community," said Kathryn Ames, director of ARLS. 1

DR. SETHNA Continued from P. 1
"It is quite an honor to be on a poster with the likes of President Carter, Travis Tritt and Justice Sears," said Sethna. "I love to read and I love to read to kids. Reading is so fundamental to their academic and intellectual growth, and any time we spend helping them experience the joys and potential of reading is time very well spent."

Sethna read "The Magic Rabbit" by Richard Jesse Watson and Maggie Moore's classic, "The Three Little Pigs" to Carrollton Elementary School students while the DOE took pictures to make the poster and shot video for a DVD of the reading.
The posters and DVDs have been distributed to Georgia's 1,200 elementary schools and also are viewable on the DOE website. 1

STUDY BUDDIES Continued from P. 1
"It is quite rewarding to have VSU students and professors assist our students in the area of reading," said Creacy Sermons, principal of Parker Mathis Elementary School. "Our boys and girls look forward to each session and the opportunity to work with their VSU Study Buddy."
Scores from the CRCT are used by the federal government to determine if a school meets "adequate yearly progress," as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the Georgia Department of Education, the CRCT is designed to measure how well students acquire skills and knowledge outlined in the Georgia Performance Standards and Quality Core Curriculum and measure the knowledge and skills taught in Georgia's classrooms.
"This was the first time Parker Mathis has had 100-percent success and the only school in the

district with all of its third graders passing the reading area on the CRCT," said Ortlieb.
In 2007, 91 percent of Parker Mathis third graders passed the reading portion of the CRCT. School officials credit a team concept for the 100-percent success this year.
"The partnership Parker Mathis has with Valdosta State symbolizes the perfection of teamwork," said Dr. Steve Smith, Lowndes County School System Superintendent. "The university students served as excellent role models. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with VSU, and look forward to other opportunities in the future."
As one of 19 teacher colleges within the University System of Georgia, VSU's Dewar College of Education plays a leadership role in public education and serves as a resource for area classroom teachers, counselors, and other school leaders. 1