Colleen Craven, Manager of the Storytellers program for Books for Keeps, works with a student at a Books for Keeps event. Craven has worked at Books for Keeps since 2022, the second year of the Storytellers program, which provides literacy mentorship opportunities to students who have been identified as below grade level in reading and has seen the positive benefits it has on participating students. “The idea that students are feeling confident in the idea of connectedness to their community and confidence in themselves,” Craven said. “We’ve seen a lot of social emotional skills that we’ve seen students benefit from, and that can be in relation with their mentor, but a lot of times the relationship is kind of the vehicle.” Photo courtesy of Scott Thompson
The Get Comfortable literacy program shows gains in Clarke County School District, with expansion plans set for the future.
The Clarke County School District is entering its fourth year of the Storytellers Program, a partnership between, Get Comfortable, a literacy program with Creature Comforts Brewing Co., a local brewery, and Books for Keeps, a local nonprofit organization. With strong results at Howard B. Stroud and Fowler Drive Elementary Schools, the program is set for expansion.
The program began in 2021 at HBSES and expanded to FDES in 2023. The program pairs volunteer mentors with first and second-graders who have been identified as needing literary support by the annual i-Ready tests, taken by all CCSD students. The data from i-Ready scores are split into three sub-sections, on-grade level, approaching grade level and below grade level. Identified students receive twice-weekly, 30-minute one-on-one reading sessions designed to improve their reading skills.
“We saw students in second grade (who participated in the program) growing at a rate three times that of the non-mentored students,” CCSD Executive Director of Innovation Strategy and Governance James Barlament said. “(It’s a) limited sample of students we’re talking about, about 100 students at (HBSES and FDES), but the efforts have been working well.”
A graph displays the change in K-5 literacy rates in the Clarke County School District. A large increase in the literacy rate was observed after the implementation of the Storytellers partnership, a partnership between the CCSD, non-profit Books for Keeps and Creature Comforts Brewing Co. “We’ve seen a huge increase in literacy rates for students who were mentored versus non mentored. We’re seeing a higher rate of growth for students who were mentored,” CCSD Executive Director of Innovation Strategy and Governance James Barlament said. Graphic by Liza Larson
The partnership was created after a Creature Comforts community-needs assessment identified student literacy as a key concern. District data has shown that literacy proficiency dropped from 63% in 2019 to 43% in 2021 for grades K-5. Since then, rates have increased by 17.5%, resting at 60.5% in 2024. Outside of an increase in numbers, FDES principal Stacie Carson has seen the impact firsthand.
“To have the community in our schools is amazing because they see the great work that’s happening in our buildings. Not only are we getting them to be in the building, but it also gives our children another adult that’s cheering them on and supporting them (and) wants them to be great,” Carson said. “To have somebody else come in and say, ‘I want to give up my time twice a week to hang out with you,’ that just adds in another bonus.”
This year, CCSD plans to take on a greater coordinating role in the partnership. While Books for Keeps will continue mentor training and oversight. Creature Comforts will continue providing funding through the annual Get Comfortable campaign.
“We’ve been providing data to feed the program and then to evaluate the program on the back end, but what we’re looking to do over the course of (the 2025-26 school year) is to kind of flip that over to where CCSD becomes a more active partner and we become the convening partner,” Barlament said. “That doesn’t mean that Creature Comfort shoots out the door, never comes back, they’re still going to be out there working, raising money. Books for Keeps would remain the on boots on the ground partner.”
“We saw students in second grade (who participated in the program) growing at a rate three times that of the non-mentored students.”
— James Barlament,
CCSD Executive Director of Innovation Strategy and Governance
Expansion of the program is dependent on recruiting additional volunteers and securing resources for sustainment, an endeavor Books For Keeps’ Storytellers Program Manager Colleen Craven feels is achievable.
“We are well-suited to get volunteers, we have a lot of folks that really enjoy the mission of Books for Keeps.” Craven said. “We are as well-positioned as we could be to get the volunteers for the school sites, (it’s) just a matter of when we’re ready (to expand).”
