Clemson Reading Recovery program named finalist for WhatWorksSC award

Published: September 24, 2012

By Evan Lybrand

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Reading Recovery Training Center has been nominated as a finalist for the Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award of Excellence from the Riley Institute at Furman University.

Part of Clemson’s Eugene T. Moore School of Education, the Reading Recovery Training Center provides training and professional development to teachers who work with struggling first-grade readers. The program offers one-on-one sessions to help improve these students’ reading and writing skills.

Clemson University is the training site for the program and supports implementation in school districts across the state. Its is to lessen the burden on the educational system and to help children in need.

“We are honored to be a finalist for the Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award of Excellence," said Celeste Bates, assistant professor and director of the Clemson University Reading Recovery Training Center. "Clemson University has supported the Reading Recovery Training Center for over 20 years and we are grateful for this ongoing support.

"Over the years, our Reading Recovery interventionists have made the difference in the lives of thousands of children statewide, and I am proud that their everyday work with struggling readers is being recognized,” she said.

WhatWorksSC supports and honors exemplary education initiatives in conjunction with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and State Board of Education. More than 50 award entries were narrowed down to three finalists.

The winner will receive a $10,000 grant presented by BB&T. Two other finalists will receive $1,000 grants.

The award will be presented Oct. 17 by former governor and U.S. education secretary Dick Riley at the fifth annual S.C. Conference of Public Education Partners in Columbia.

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