PANOLA COLLEGE WINS PRESTIGIOUS GRANT FROM
THE FIRST LADY’S FAMILY LITERACY INITATIVE FOR TEXAS
(7/18/2002) 

The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas awarded a $25,000 grant to Panola College in Carthage to fund the development of a family literacy component in our adult education program.  We will stress the importance of reading by both children and their parents.  Adults and children will be facilitated by an instructor as they read individually and together in a reading area with books provided by the program.  It presents a fun opportunity since successful readers will be rewarded with their own books to take home as they complete them.  Panola College is one of ten grant recipients chosen from among more than 70 applications.  The grant was announced by Benita Somerfield, Executive Director of The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Barbara Bush Texas Fund on July 8, 2002. 

A program of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy, The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas provides one-time-only seed money for new family literacy programs or the expansion of current successful family literacy programs.  Mrs. Laura Bush launched this Initiative in 1996 as First Lady of Texas and continues as the Honorary Chair in her role as America’s First Lady. 

With the announcement of these new grants, the Initiative will have awarded nearly $1.5 million to seventy programs in 52 cities across the state.   

The First Lady’s Family Literacy Initiative for Texas, which is a program of the Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy, awards grants of up to $25,000 to public and private  non-profit organizations that work within the family unit, helping   parents and children to build and use literacy and pre-literacy skills.  Funds are raised at the annual Celebration of Reading, held at the Wortham Center in Houston, Texas, and the Foundation’s new Dallas Celebration of Reading, which will take place this year on November 25 at the Anatole Hotel.  Mrs. Barbara Bush is the President of the Texas Fund, as well as the Honorary Chair of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.  Additional information and a complete listing of programs that have won grants can be found at www.barbarabushfoundation.com . 

According to Dr. Barbara Buchanan, Director of Panola College’s Workforce and Continuing Education Department, “numerous studies attest to the importance of reading to and with young children.  By reading to a child, parents demonstrate that life-long learning is of primary importance.  Adding this family literacy component to our adult education program will be instrumental to our success as we continue efforts to improve our area’s literacy levels.  We believe the family is at the center of learning and will be the unit that moves a child through his early years toward a more prosperous future. ”