LAUREL —
Three area mayors have signed a proclamation to promote literacy awareness in their respective cities.
Soso Mayor Mike Moore, along with Taylorsville Mayor Rosalyn Glenn and Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack, signed separate proclamations Wednesday at the request of the Pine Belt Literacy Council.
The council, which seeks to increase quality of life by increasing functional reading skills, held a luncheon at the Pine Belt Education Center in Laurel to introduce the mayors and other community leaders to the services offered at the center. The center also houses the Jones County School District’s Alternative School.
“After the Alternative’s students go home, we open up to the adults,” said Mary Jo Blackledge, the center’s Adult and Community Education Director. “Last year we served over 11,000 people in our classes.”
According to Blackledge, literacy is a major problem in the Pine Belt area. She explained that there are a number of adults who cannot read. Blackledge noted that the National Association of Literacy places these non-readers into two categories — “Level 1” and “Level 2.”
“Level 1 are those who can’t read at all or who read at a very low level,” explained Blackledge. “Level 2 are those who can’t read well enough to fill out a job application.
“In Jones County, 28 percent of the residents read at Level 1 and 61 percent read at Level 2,” said Blackledge. “We have a program here designed to help people learn to read. All they have to do is sign up.”
Realizing that a lot of people are ashamed to admit they need help with reading, Literacy Council members encouraged the mayors to find ways to inform those needing help that there is a place to go for help at no cost.
“Statistics show that illiteracy is a major contributor to poverty, injustice, and violence,” said Blackledge. “History has shown that those societies that have invested most heavily in the education of their citizens have been the ones that have advanced most rapidly and have provided the conditions wherein the way of life has been fundamentally transformed.”
Since September is National Literacy Month, the proclamation signed by the mayors encourages “all citizens to acknowledge generally that a literate world is not only one where people can read and write, but is one in which the human is liberated and placed in the service of progress.”
The proclamation also recognizes the importance of investing in education, encouraging and supporting educators as they teach children, and funding programs that teach parents to read and write.
For additional information about the Pine Belt Education Center Adult and Community Education programs, phone 601-649-4141.
Local News
Related Photos
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Soso Mayor Mike Moore signs a literacy proclamation as Roberta Scott, president of the Pine Belt Literacy Council, Taylorsville Mayor Rosalyn Glenn and City of Laurel Public Information Officer Wanda Benson look on. Photo/Charlotte A. Graham
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