Appleton Episcopal Ministries is in need of volunteers who may be retired or former reading/phonics teachers with experience in a classroom setting to help with its new program. The Appleton Free to Read Program is aimed to address crucial literacy deficits in Bibb County by identifying students who struggle with language comprehension and word recognition.   

The program is designed to improve the literacy skills of these students using a proven approach to literacy through the implementation of the Orton-Gillingham method. The Orton-Gillinigham method was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds. 

“Over the last two years, we hired an Orton-Gillingham reading specialist to work in our summer program one-on -one with each of our students,” said Program Coordinator Corley Peth. “The inclusion of a reading specialist has resulted in even better literacy outcomes for both spelling and reading by the end of the summer. It also helped strengthen our students’ reading skills. Free to Read Intensive is designed to be a more concentrated version of that program.”  

The program is working with second graders at John R. Lewis Elementary School who have demonstrated delay in their language comprehension and word recognition within an academic setting. Students have already been selected by teachers at the school and will begin the program the first week of February. 

Every Tuesday and Wednesday, students will be transported to the St. Francis Episcopal Church to take part in the program after school. They will have the opportunity to engage in an interactive tailored and prescriptive lesson plan that builds on previous knowledge and is designed to introduce one phonetic structure.   

This program is free for students and is made possible by a $25,000 grant through the Macon Violence Prevention (MVP).  

“Literacy skills are vital, and this program is going above and beyond to make sure our children don’t fall through the cracks,” said Mayor Lester Miller. “Our younger generation deserves the best tools to succeed. We are so thankful for programs like this.” 

The program will offer an honorarium for volunteers for their dedicated service to our program. All volunteers will be subject to a background check. If you are interested, email programdirector@appletonepiscopal.org.