Reading Succeeding

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICK YOST

Madison Mayor Fred Perriman can remember sitting in the sanctuary of the Springfield Baptist Church on Bethany Road in the early 1950s the moment his life changed.

A woman named Martha F. Stinson, Perriman’s first grade teacher at the segregated “church school” handed out dog-eared books passed down from the white schools for the children. There was “Jack and Jill” and “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and other “rhyming books” designed to help small children learn to read, Perriman says. The farmer’s son was fascinated. Mrs. Stinson was there to help. “She was concerned about us,” says Perriman. The reading took, and Perriman says that one fundamental skill led to others which led to a farmer’s son becoming one of the favorite city sons of Madison. Perriman is the city’s first African-American mayor elected in the last election by a landslide and, coincidentally, an ordained Baptist minister that still makes the more than hour drive to preach in the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Lincolnton.

Perriman doesn’t forget Mrs. Stinson and her hope for a generation. “It was the beginning of our lives,” Perriman recalls. “She wanted to make sure that we would succeed.”

But it all started with reading.

In celebration of his first teacher and in the skill that, he says, has allowed him to go far in his life, Mayor Perriman who also serves as the vice president of the Georgia Municipal Association, has joined with 35 other Georgia mayors to become part of the Georgia City Solutions (GCS) Mayor’s Reading Club Program.

Perriman says when he first learned of the program he couldn’t wait to participate. “President Barack Obama once said, ‘Reading makes all other learning possible. We have to get books into our children’s hands early and often.’”

To that end, Perriman, a 1968 graduate of Madison’s Pearl High School, has joined with the Morgan County Charter School System, Madison-based Ferst Readers and city officials to work towards improving reading awareness and skills in Madison.

As part of the program, Perriman is organizing a group of “celebrity readers” at Morgan County Charter School System classrooms, including ESPN journalist and New York Times best-selling author, Mark Schlabach, Assistant Chief of Police Colin Campbell, and Dr. Pamela Hall.

In October, the mayor appeared in Ashley Barnes’ third grade classroom at Morgan County Elementary School to read a portion of “Georgia Caroline Visits City Hall.” The book provided by GCS, follows a group of children as they are led through the various departments and workings of a small Georgia city.

Perriman says the concept of reading to children should be fundamental in all households. “It is essential that we provide reading opportunities to our children early in their lives. Actually, reading should start when a child is in the mother’s womb and should continue once the child has been born.”

Dr. Virgil Cole, superintendent, Morgan County Charter School System, said the program and Perriman’s appearance at the school is an affirmation that reading matters and the city of Madison notices. “It’s one of the most critical and foundational things we can do with our school system,” Cole says. The partnership with Perriman and the city will help Morgan County become a more effective school system.”

Cole also speaks from experience. His grandfather, Virgil Calvin Cole, was forced by circumstance to drop out of school in third grade and struggled with illiteracy his entire life. While his grandfather was a successful provider, Dr. Cole said he learned from watching as his namesake continued to try and learn. “He saw the limitations that came with illiteracy and fought to learn,” Dr. Cole says. “It was something that always inspired me.”

Perriman agrees. “Reading is a fundamental, essential life skill. It helps children enhance their learning, listening skills, vocabulary, concentration, imagination, creativity and self-confidence,” he says. “Through reading, our children learn empathy, how to develop positive perspectives and build stronger relationships.”

The Georgia City Solutions, a non-profit extension of the Georgia Municipality Association, says the program is designed to enhance a city’s ability to affect a child’s life. “Literacy is not just an education issue. It is an economic, workforce, and quality of life issue. We know that the major challenges which hold cities and their residents back are grounded in the outcomes of intergenerational poverty, such as low academic achievement, disengaged youth and a deficient pipeline of qualified workers to fill local jobs.”

ABOVE LEFT: Morgan County High School Bulldog T.J. Thompson, a noted football and basketball player, reads to second grade students at Morgan County Primary School after delivering a sports-related message of resilience and teamwork. TOP: Assistant Chief of Police Colin Campbell reads to students at Morgan County Primary School. Campbell says he was proud to be part of something that could have a positive effect on the students’ development. ‘It’s great to be part of a program that reinforces to the children the importance of reading.’ BOTTOM: Dr. Pamela Hall, of Madison Family Medicine in Madison, reads to students at Morgan County Primary School as part of Mayor Fred Perriman’s new Mayor’s Reading Club. Hall says she was impressed with the children’s zeal for reading. ‘The kids are as enthusiastic as ever. They are so receptive.’