The Chatham County-Savannah area’s Moonshot literacy initiative just launched its next rocket.
The Chatham Education Alliance announced a goal at its Moonshot Literacy Summit Wednesday to engage 1,000 individuals and 100 businesses as “literacy champions.” The push is aimed at changing “community culture” in education advocacy, and engaging more people in the county school system’s goal of achieving a 95% literacy rate for third graders by 2031.
“The district has not only said this is possible, but that we’re going to do it. That is really special,” said CEA Co-Chair Rick Roney.
Moonshot launched in March this year with the aim of closing the gap in Chatham County for
third graders reading below grade level. Wednesday was the initiative’s first literacy summit and featured presentations from national literacy experts including Fulcrum founder Kareem Weaver.
The event drew roughly 150 local leaders over three and a half hours at Savannah State University's King Frazier Student Center.
The summit also featured a presentation from Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Superintendent Denise Watts, who provided an overview of the district’s new strategic plan. Watts’ presentation also included early progress updates on the district’s efforts to achieve its literacy goal.
But outside the district, Roney highlighted Moonshot’s newest focus on community culture. Roney said the county’s culture around literacy has been marked by disengagement and acceptance of mediocrity.
The CEA co-chair highlighted 25% voter participation in May’s school board election as a sign of apathy. He also pointed to a decade of having roughly half of third graders below grade reading level as a sign of the community’s indifference toward mediocrity.
“It’s not good, but yet where is the public outrage?” Roney said.
SCCPSS Board President Roger Moss said the summit is a critical step towards engaging the broader community in tackling the county’s literacy challenges. Moss added that he has felt a shift in the local culture around literacy starting with Watts’ hiring in June 2023.
Watts helped usher in the district’s shift towards the science of reading, an approach to teaching reading that is credited with the “Mississippi Miracle” that saw the state’s rapid rise in reading scores. But in addition to that prior momentum, Moonshot has been a needed catalyst, Moss said.
“Moonshot is really the shot in the arm that we needed,” Moss said.
Some of the forward progress was evident in Watts presentation. The district’s beginning-of-year reading assessments show an increase in readers on grade level compared to the previous year.
Kindergarten, first grade and second grade each saw 5% increases or more in the number of students on track at the year’s start. First grade saw the largest leap at a 14% increase.
But Watts also said the district will not rest at that early progress, keeping its north star in focus.
“It is important for us to know that we are keeping that 95% front and center,” she said. “It is the moonshot."
Moonshot’s call to action Wednesday challenged attendees with engaging one person in one conversation every month about the fight to increase literacy. The “literacy champion” pledge being pushed by Moonshot includes a commitment to stay informed about literacy progress in the county, receive monthly updates and action opportunities, take at least one civic action each month to support literacy and encourage others to join the movement.
The group also launched a billboard campaign Wednesday which is expected to be followed by TV and radio ads, as well as storytelling campaign showing the progress of its work.
When asked if he had any final thoughts about Wednesday’s event and the district’s literacy goals, Moss gave a strong declaration.
“This is going to happen,” he said.
Evan Lasseter is the City of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah's "Moonshot" initiative continues push for literacy advocacy
