Success By 6 mission:
to ensure that children in West Georgia enter school better prepared to learn.
We are a community partnership focused on improving school readiness through a strong network of public and private resources. We collaborate with school districts, child development centers, community organizations, local government and others to promote the healthy development of all children from conception through age five.
Everything we do at Success by 6 is in pursuit of one of the following goals:
Increase awareness of the importance early learning plays in school readiness
Improve the quality of education provided at child care centers
Ensure all young children have books in their home and are read to daily
Help parents realize they are their child’s first teacher and assist them in being the best teacher possible.
we know that children who start behind, stay behind. We are taking action through a number of fantastic partnerships:
Summer LITERACY ON WHEELS
Summer Literacy on Wheels” is designed by Success by 6 to help children easily transition from home or an early learning center into Pre-K or Kindergarten. Another goal is to help prevent the “Summer Slide” while out of school during the summer months. The program is funded through the Troup County School System L4GA Grant each summer. Several local early learning centers with classrooms of children around the age of four are selected to receive literacy materials to be used daily during the summer months. They are asked to focus on literacy activities for at least 45 minutes daily. The materials remain at the centers to be used throughout the year in their classroom which include books, art supplies, writing materials, literacy games and activities, along with a cart or storage container.
Weekly Readers
Our Weekly Reader program coordinates volunteers throughout the community to go into early learning centers and read on a weekly basis. Each volunteer reader not only reads to the children, but often discusses a career with them and talks with the children about what they may want to do after graduating from high school. Covid brought this program to a halt in 2020, but it is slowly building back up to pre-Covid numbers.
Get Troup Reading:
Success by 6 focuses on the first five years of life, promoting healthy early childhood development to ensure children enter school ready to succeed. Ninety percent of a child’s brain is developed by age five and therefore, it is critical that we work with community partners for the most benefits for the children of Troup County. Get Troup Reading, with the goal for all Troup County students to be reading on grade level by the end of third grade, makes it a perfect partner for Success by 6.
To learn more about Get Troup Reading, visit their website at https://www.gettroupreading.org
The Jungle Bus
Success by 6, in partnership with the Troup County School System, The Rotary Club of LaGrange and other community organizations brought the reality of a bookmobile into being in 2017. This bookmobile is different from the traditional check in, check out versions of most bookmobiles. A refurbished 1985 Blue Bird school bus became the Jungle Bus where “Reading is an Adventure”. From the Jungle Bus, books are given to children (or adults) to keep in their homes. The bus driven by Jungle Jama and her sidekick, Reading Ranger, travel throughout Troup County making stops at Early Care and Learning Centers, schools, apartment complexes, community events and almost anyplace they are invited. Children are encouraged to board the bus and pick out their own book to keep. Over 18,000 books have been given from the Jungle Bus so far. Children and parents alike are thrilled when they see the Jungle Bus coming!
Book Distributions
The more people encouraging reading in a child’s life, the better!
Partnerships with First Book and Scholastic gives Success by 6 access to new, age appropriate, books at a highly-discounted rate. These books are distributed into the community through a variety of ways:
Local pediatrician offices give books to children when they receive an immunization.
Books are distributed though the local public health department through Babies Can’t Wait and WIC.
Our local Rotary Club gives a book to every child in a state-funded lottery Pre-K class. When delivering the books to the classroom, a local Rotarian reads the book to the class.
In addition to these partners mentioned, plus the books from the Jungle Bus and books donated for the Little Free Libraries, other distributions include new or gently used books at early learning centers, for tutors volunteering in the Read-Learn-Grow program in the Troup County School System, as well as new teachers needing to add to their classroom library, and monthly food distributions through a partnership of Warren Temple United Methodist Church and LaGrange First United Methodist Church.
Lukken Project
Your Child’s First Teacher IS You, by local author Miriam Lukken is in it’s second print and projected to be available later in the summer. For information on how to obtain a copy of this wonderful resource, call 706-884-8292.
LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES
Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization based in Minnesota. Its mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book exchange boxes. Success by 6 oversees the Little Free Library located outside of the Bank of America Building sponsored by Publix of LaGrange. In addition to this location, Success by 6 offers books from the “Book Stop” for any volunteers in need of books to fill one of the numerous Little Free Libraries located in Troup County.
Online Trauma Training
Partnering with Georgia State University, online training is offered for some of the courses developed by the Child Welfare Training Collaborative. These can be completed at any time on-demand by professionals and community partners who interact with children who have experienced complex trauma. Click the link below to enroll in the course.