Third graders performed skits, raps and step routines to represent their schools and encourage their peers and parents to read at a kickoff event Tuesday night
The gathering, held in Greenwood High School’s gym, was put on by the Delta Health Alliance in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Education to “get them geared up to pass the third grade gate test,” said Mary Johnson, director of curriculum for the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District.
In Mississippi, most third graders have to pass an end-of-year reading test in order to be promoted to fourth grade.
A presentation Tuesday by the Mississippi Department of Education was preceded by performances from cheerleaders representing Amanda Elzy High, Greenwood High and Bankston Elementary schools.
“One, two, three, proficiency on three!” representatives from Greenwood’s peewee football team chanted before launching into a mock offensive play.
Kierre Rimmer, the father of a 10-year-old from Cleveland, encouraged parents to work with their children on literacy. “If they can’t read and pass the state test, the state penitentiary’s going to be waiting on them,” he said.
Rimmer, who runs a nonprofit to help at-risk youth and coordinates programs for Mississippi Delta GEAR UP, said a lot of kids and parents focus on sports. However, he said, “Somebody has to be a sports announcer; that’s literacy. And somebody has to be LeBron James’ financial adviser; that’s literacy.”
Rimmer’s son, Braylen, has been writing since he was 6 and is the author of two comic books and a coloring book. He is working on a graphic novel. Kierre Rimmer said his and his wife’s willingness to encourage literacy played a part in these accomplishments
At the end of the night’s presentations, parents rotated through stations run by students and teachers to experience what a day in third grade feels like.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
