Mary Brantley

Brantley's "Summer Reading Program" gives at-risk and economically disadvantaged K-5 students opportunities to improve reading during the summer. Books are made available to students to check out weekly and are delivered to their homes by teachers from the school. Since the students have limited access to quality reading materials, the project helps prevent a decline in reading ability that can result from breaks in schooling. Once the school year begins, the students participate in accelerated reading tests to gauge the benefits of their continuous summer reading.