海角社区

To hear Ron Reigner detail the event, it would seem that the president was coming to the Golden Isles.

In actuality, Reigner isn鈥檛 that far off. On Friday, the former president of the 70,000-member International Reading Association will visit the 海角社区 for a one-day literacy conference.

鈥淲e at the college are very excited to have Dr. Patricia Edwards come to speak with us and present to us her extensive years of research regarding increasing literacy rates, especially in the minority and lower-income sector of the community,鈥� said Reigner, who holds the Community-Supported Professorship in Early Childhood Reading and Language Arts in the School of Education and Teacher Preparation at the 海角社区 and is working with local educators to host the 海角社区 Literacy Forum on Friday.

During the day-long conference, Edwards will begin the day with a presentation titled 鈥淐hildren鈥檚 Literacy Development: Making it Happen through School, Family and Community Involvement.鈥�

As the name suggests, her lecture will explain her decades of research on how literacy, especially in young minds, hinges extensively on involvement outside the classroom.

鈥淭here is a real effort to include parents and the community in a child鈥檚 education,鈥� Reigner said. 鈥淲e know that a child will achieve more when there are more people involved in their education. In her talk, Dr. Edwards will showcase just that, which will be beneficial to all the event participants with an interest in education.鈥�

For the afternoon portion of the lecture, Edwards will be joined by several guest speakers for a panel discussion regarding the connections between home life and academic achievement. Edwards will be joined on stage by three guest speakers, Anita Beasley, Sheree Bryant and Beth Perdergraft, all of whom are involved in the Georgia Reading Association chapter of the International Reading Association.

In the final leg of the conference, the three panel guests will be available for breakout sessions of various literacy and learning topics.

Working for months to plan the workshop conference, Reigner has been pleasantly surprised by the response he has received from area educators, civic groups and individuals interested in education and literacy efforts. He anticipates more than 130 attendees for the conference from seven counties in the region.

鈥淧eople are excited to take part in this great event,鈥� Reigner said. 鈥淚t is an honor to have Dr. Edwards speak to us, and undoubtedly, we will all walk away from this event with a deeper understanding of how we can improve literacy rates in our communities. We鈥檝e seen growing efforts in many ways, from many organizations and associations, trying to improve literacy in our community. It鈥檚 great to see us all coming together like this, for the overall improvement of our community.鈥�

The 海角社区 Literacy Forum will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Southeast Georgia Conference Center on the college鈥檚 Brunswick campus. Admission is free to all.

For more information, visit听ccga.edu.

The Brunswick News
ANNA HALL