Spring Break
Student designs project that should raise literacy level
Patrice Blackmon
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Campus News
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Joseph Hamby, a junior majoring in public relations and minoring in religion, is the creator and driving force of a project called "Let's Read Together."
"This project is designed to strengthen the partnership between Gardner-Webb University and our community partner, KidSenses InterACTIVE Museum," Hamby said. "Through this, children throughout Cleveland and Rutherford counties, along with other surrounding counties, will have the opportunity to come to the museum and interact with GWU volunteers in an initiative to promote literacy for the children, and to promote parent involvement in the literacy process."
Hamby's wanted to create a program to break the cycle of illiteracy in the seven counties surrounding KidSenses, where, he said, 30 percent of adults are functionally illiterate. The museum is located in Rutherford County.
He said that passion was his motivation for creating the program.
"A passion of a student, the passion of a staff member, and the willingness of several people to make Gardner-Webb a university that is invested in the needs of its community," said Hamby.
"The truth is that Gardner-Webb certainly could have gone on without a program like this; however, our community couldn't. The eagerness of individuals like Sandy Hammett, Dr. Susan Manahan, Julia Phillips, Dr. Cindy McKinney and Dr. Sheila Ingles is what really led me to pursue such an endeavor."
Sandy Hammett is the GWU director of volunteerism and Julia Phillips is the literacy director for KidSenses. Hamby said he and Hammett brainstormed program options in the creation of "Let's Read Together," which is branch of the KidSenses program "The Littlest Readers."
That wasn't the end of the process, however.
"After hammering out the program details, the main focus was to develop a strategy, list of goals, a proposed budget, along with the necessary grant paperwork," Hamby said. "After that it was approximately a month before we heard the outcome of the grant proposal.
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