We've done it!
(Tifton celebrates reading prowess)
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| In the words of Tift County Foundation for
Educational Excellence Executive Director Mike Brumby, “We’ve done it.”
The Tifton community Wednesday celebrated earning a million Accelerated Reader points and was officially proclaimed “Reading Capital of the World” by Mayor Paul Johnson. Thousands of schoolchildren turned out for a midday celebration at the Tift County stadium as a plane pulling a “Reading Capital of the World” banner flew overhead, literacy characters danced around the football field and cheerleaders from three difference schools led reading cheers. “One of our themes at Renaissance Learning is ‘Dreamers Wake the Nation,’ “Accelerated Reader foundation Judi Paul said during a brief speech. “That’s exactly what you have done in Tifton. “At our company we have had people from 30 different places call us after your national attention. We thank you for making Accelerated Reader a part of your accomplishment.” Mother Goose and fairy tale characters played by drama students at Tift County High School and Tiftarea Academy performed on the football field as the Blue Devil Brigade played matching music. Cruella DeVille of “101 Dalmatians” arrived in a Rolls Royce, preceded by “Lassie” and a handful of Dalmatians, and Sherlock Holmes and other mystery characters took their turn onstage before children dressed in international costumes appeared as ‘children of the world.” The Tiftarea Academy Show Choir sang a song written for Reading Capital of the World by band director Vann Thornton before Johnson read the proclamation. The stadium’s cannon was fired as hundreds of balloons were released. The community went after two separate Guinness Book of World Records, reading silently and then reading part of “The Cat in the Hat” together for the “largest group read-aloud” record “I don’t know when I’ve every seen anything bring a community together like this,” said Johnson. “The numbers are in. We claim victory and no recount is forthcoming.” |
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©
2000 Tifton Gazette (All Rights Reserved)
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