By Emily Laycock
Atlanta, September 14, 2024 – Preface held its 5th Annual Childhood Literacy Benefit Gala at The Capital City Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Community leaders, educators, state government leaders, and honorees gathered to support Preface’s mission – “equality through education and early childhood literacy.” The gala raised over $120,000 in funds and resources from sponsors and donors.
Preface is a non-profit organization that promotes childhood literacy through high school mentorship. The organization was founded in 2019 by JT Wu, a child of Malaysian Chinese immigrants and a native of Duluth, Georgia.
State Rep. Matt Reeves (R-Duluth) and state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes (D-Duluth) were both in attendance as guests of honor; endorsing Preface’s mission and advocating for continued efforts to increase literacy throughout Georgia.
“It’s tragic that one million Georgians out of 11 million can’t read. We have to break that cycle, which has profound costs on a personal level as well as workforce needs. It’s a tragedy. People are more likely to go to jail or go on welfare if they can’t read. Also, it’s intergenerational, we have to break that cycle so that illiteracy is not passed on from grandparent to parent to children. So the fact that we’re teaching these kids how to read, we’ll have fewer illiterate people going forward. We’re going to have more people with diplomas, jobs, and bank accounts,” Reeves said.
Reeves also encouraged Georgians to participate in Georgia Reads Day on September 30th, a statewide campaign aiming to foster the love of reading and promote literacy throughout communities.
Islam Parkes, who proudly sponsored a resolution to honor Preface’s work in the state senate, echoed Reeves’s sentiment of the fundamental importance of literacy for all Georgians. She highlighted a few staggering statistics published on Preface’s website, including, “Children reading proficiently by 3rd grade are four times less likely to drop out of school and are 60 times less likely to spend time in prison, saving taxpayers $292,000 each in public assistance and correctional funding.”
When asked about other actions that can be taken to increase literacy in Georgia, Islam Parkes emphasized the importance of funding early childhood education. “We need to make sure that preschool is always fully funded, that every child in the state of Georgia is able to attend preschool free of charge.”
Looking towards the future, Preface board members are eager to continue the program’s growth into more states, as well as expand into other countries. “We think the preface model really works in most communities. I think that because it’s no cost to the schools, it’s really easy to convince them to adopt it because it’s so powerfully impactful on the students. So we’re just really excited to go further and deeper in the communities that we serve,” Preface’s chief marketing officer, Devon McCourt, said.
Wu, Preface’s founder and executive director, relayed a similar message of growth and commitment. “We want to work with as many schools, as many districts, and be in as many states as possible, so that we can continue to make sure that every child has the opportunity to pursue their degree.”
