Front: Emily Pruitt, Carley Cook, Carolyn Pruitt, Ember Gates, and Katie Marshall; Back: Eva Orduna, Tyler Cook, Tami Carnes, Julie Pierson, Darrell Pruitt, Colleen Rushing, Mindy Baker, Lou Labay, Colton Pruitt, Freida Welch
Read to Me Literacy Program by Summer Stone, Region 7 ESC Communications Coordinator “The mere exposure to books can predict a child’s success in school – and growing up surrounded by books sets the tone for education and escape, encouraging them to research and to use their imagination,” Kristi L. Nelson, Health writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel. For Hallsville East Kindergarten teacher Carolyn Pruitt, this statement has proven to be true throughout her 35 years in education. Mrs. Pruitt has witnessed first-hand the impact made on young students who have been exposed to books from birth and the struggles of those who have not been surrounded by books. “As a kindergarten teacher, I can see pretty quickly which children have been read to and which children have not, and it makes a difference when it comes to their abilities to speak and comprehend information,” says Pruitt. One study estimated a 7,500-word difference 4
between first graders who got a lot of exposure to language as babies and toddlers compared to those who did not. These statistics, in addition to her observations in her classroom, are what inspired Pruitt to create the Read to Me Literacy Program for Kids. The Read to Me Literacy Program began in the spring of 2021, when Pruitt and a few coworkers, friends, and family members started assembling small bags with books and resources to deliver to the Christus Good Shepherd Labor and Delivery floor for new mothers in the area. “I’m a Registered Nurse at Christus Good Shepherd in Longview, and I am usually the person dropping off the book bags after we fill them,” says Pruitt’s daughter Carley Cook. “Each time I drop off a set of book bags, the nurses of the mother-baby floor are so appreciative and tell me that the moms love them so much.”
