Carroll County Public Schools will soon reap the benefits of the $560,000 Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG) it was recently awarded.

The school division was one of just two in the state of Virginia to be awarded the Tag Grant, which will provide Carroll County Public Schools and the surrounding region with $560,000 of funding to implement additional reading programs. It will also allow CCPS to take the lead with seven other school division in the region to offer reading opportunities for students and in-service opportunities for teachers. Only four states qualified for the grant, and Newport News was the only other school system in the state to receive the grant besides Carroll County.“It was because of the increase in test scores and reading improvements happening in all our subgroups. To think that Carroll County and Newport News are the only two, that is just extremely exciting and shows what hard-working students we’ve got, what dedicated teachers we have, and the parental support we have,” said Linda Dalton, Carroll County Director of Elementary Education and Federal Programs. “It has taken the effort of every group to make it happen.”

The school system will take advantage of the TAG grant with its first associated event March 3 as children’s author Kimberly Johnson will be conducting a pair of parent involvement sessions in Carroll schools. The first session will be held at Hillsville Elementary School at 5 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. workshop at the Carroll County Public Library. The first 125 families at each event will receive a free autographed Kimberly Johnson book.

“I think it is really exciting because it is an opportunity we are going to be giving to the children here that they may not have the opportunity to do before,” Dalton said. “She is the author of book and not only will she be here conducting activities and reading her books, she will be giving away some signed copies to the kids. I’m just very excited we can offer that to students in the county.”

Johnson’s workshop will focus on techniques that parents can use at home to continue motivating students to read and write. Such techniques will involve: creative storytelling and creative writing activities, how to use more teachable moments at home, finding simple ways to spark brainstorming, becoming better readers - together, and using the senses effectively.

For more information about Kimberly Johnson, visit: http://www.simplycreativeworks.com/workshops_staffoverview.html

Johnson will be back in the area June 30 to conduct a similar workshop at the Wytheville Meeting Center.

Also associated with the TAG Grant, Carroll County Public Schools will also hold an event in June with children’s author Gloria Houston in conjunction with the Galax Leaf & String Festival. Many well-known authors and names will be on hand June 30 and July 1 during a Summer Institute at the Wytheville Meeting Center. Along with Johnson will be keynote speaker Dr. Ruby Payne, a nationally-known consultant and expect on poverty issues. Also there will be Dr. Jenny Howell, PALS Director; Dr. Karen Ford, also of the PALS office; Pam Pierce, an associate for Debbie Diller, author of Making the Most of Small Groups, and Literacy Work Stations; educational consultant Karen Hansill; Radford University reading professor Dr. Jennifer Jones; Ellen Shrum, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia; and Carole Greer, DOE Reading Specialist.

Also in conjunction with the TAG Grant, Carroll County Public Schools has partnered with Radford University to offer teachers an opportunity to attend the university to take courses in reading during the Summer of 2008. Tuition will be paid by the Carroll County Public Schools TAG grant for seven teachers per county in the region.

In 2003, Carroll County Public Schools received Reading First Funding in order to implement the research-based reading instruction in schools in grades K-3. Based upon increased test scores in K-3 as evidenced by Standford 10 and English 3 SOL test scores, Carroll County Public Schools were awarded the TAG Grant.

Reading First research based instruction is grounded in the Five Pillars of Reading: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Fluency.

TAG grant funding will provide supplemental reading instruction opportunities for Carroll County students and for Southwest Virginia regional Reading First Schools. TAG program will be based on Five Supplemental Pillars of Instruction: Professional Development, Partnerships with Colleges and Universities, Parent Outreach, Providing Literacy Rich Environments, and Personnel.