Word: tift
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...TIFT MERRITT...
...nice ring to it, everyone agreed. But how long had he been in the sun? "It's rural Southern Georgia, and the illiteracy rate pushes 30% or 40%," admits Brumby. But if Spencer students had gone freakishly bookworm, why couldn't every child and adult in Tift County (pop. 35,000)? A big banner went up outside the town library, with weekly updates on the number of books read. The goal? One million. Everyone but the students thought Brumby was whacked...
Last year Tift schools shot up 14 points in statewide reading tests. At G.O. Bailey Elementary, Gladis Aguire, 8, went from not speaking a word of English and flunking first grade to being the top reader in her class a year later. Adults began wearing badges that say HEY, WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Tammie Smith, principal at Northside Elementary, has parents coming in an hour before the start of school, "taking tests right alongside their kids...
This week or next, a Tift County man, woman or child will close a book, pass a test and push the point total over a million. Because primary schoolers have read so many 1/2-point books, the points translate to roughly 1 million books...
Strike up the Tift County High marching band. On Nov. 15 the football stadium will be jammed for the celebration, and a new billboard will soon grace the highway, forever shadowing the sod industry. But how does Tifton know it has read more books per capita than any other town? "We don't," says Brumby. "But we welcome all challenges. The idea was to teach a love of books to children, and we've done that...