Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau Hosts Graduation for Read 2 Learn Students

The Read to Learn (R2L) program, a pivotal initiative aimed at bolstering the literacy of Cashiers area students struggling with reading, has shown remarkable success with its first graduating Class of 7 students. This innovative program is a specialized tutoring initiative for students in grades 1-3 and is focused on early literacy and foundational reading skills. It caters to the 10% of students with significant learning challenges who require targeted one-on-one support to progress. 

Our graduates, all hard-working and motivated youth, began the program last year and went from struggling readers to achieving grade proficiency and developing the skills to be accomplished readers.  As one teacher put it, “I saw a difference in those kids. All of their reading scores improved, but I could also see the difference when we were reading in class.  We are so lucky to have such a great program!” Second grade teacher, Blue Ridge School.

Achieving reading proficiency by the end of third grade is critical as it marks the transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." Students who are not proficient readers by this stage are four times more likely to drop out of high school. This underscores the importance of early literacy interventions like R2L to ensure the long-term academic and life success of these amazing young people. 

For more information on R2L, contact Lisa Youngblood at lisa@bgcplateau.org.