Turning Raider Nation into Reader Nation
Building Stronger Readers Together: Birth to Five
The Reader Nation Community Coalition is a collaborative initiative dedicated to ensuring every child in Madison County develops a strong foundation of literacy skills from birth to age five. In April 2026, Madison County Schools and six community partners were awarded a $14,000 "Strengthen and Sustain" grant from the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy to formalize these efforts.
By uniting educators, families, and community partners, we are working to ensure our children are ready for school, prepared to graduate, and equipped to become productive members of our community.
Our Core Pillars
Our work is guided by the Get Georgia Reading Campaign pillars to create a coordinated system of support for our youngest learners:
- Language Nutrition: Promoting frequent, high-quality "serve-and-return" interactions between children and adults to build brain architecture.
- Access: Increasing the availability of high-quality books and literacy resources for all families.
- Teacher Training & Effectiveness: Providing research-based professional learning for early childhood educators across the county.
- Positive Learning Environment: Fostering community-wide collaboration to reinforce literacy-rich environments in homes, schools, and businesses.
Coalition Goals for 2026-2027
To strengthen our community’s literacy landscape, the coalition has committed to the following measurable goals by April 2027:
- Formalize the Coalition: Establish a permanent Early Literacy Community Coalition that meets quarterly to implement shared literacy initiatives.
- Educator Training: Provide evidence-based professional learning to at least 75% of early childhood educators in Madison County.
- Community Awareness: Reach at least 1,000 parents, caregivers, and first responders with information on language nutrition.
- Book Access: Enroll an additional 300 children in programs like Ferst Readers and 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.
- Volunteer Engagement: Train at least 50 community volunteers to serve as language mentors and partner readers for preschool and kindergarten students.
Our Partners
This work is made possible through the dedicated commitment of our community partners:
Partner Organization | Role in the Coalition |
Madison County School System | Fiscal agent and lead for educator training and curriculum support. |
Madison Area Resource Team (MART) | Provides the organizational structure and leadership for the coalition. |
MC Chamber of Commerce | Leads business engagement, workforce alignment, and community awareness. |
Madison County Library | Hosts story times, modeling language nutrition, and manages book access programs. |
MC Retired Educators Association | Provides expertise in material selection and volunteers for training and mentoring. |
Madison County Rotary Club | Supplies volunteer readers and funding for literacy resources. |
MC Mentor Program | Trains and places mentors to provide one-on-one language support for children. |
Important Links & Resources
Use the links below to learn more about our initiatives and how you can get involved.
- Grant Overview Presentation: Video
- Agendas and Minutes from Coalition Meetings:
- Volunteer Training Information: COMING SOON!
- Ferst Readers Enrollment Information: COMING SOON!
- 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Enrollment Information: COMING SOON!
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Amanda Sailors
Board of Education
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
(706) 795-2191 ext.1426