VIDEO: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear visits Whitley County as part of ‘Save the Children’ campaign

Students at Whitley Central Primary School are used to having stories read to them and participating in exercises that promote reading. They just don’t normally do it with a governor and a four-time Academy Award nominated actress, who were on hand at the school Thursday morning.

Gov. Steve Beshear was joined by actress Julianne Moore, who is also a children’s book author and ambassador for Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, and Mark K. Shriver, vice president and managing director of U.S. Programs, in a tour of Save the Children’s literacy program at the school.

“One of the reasons I think we were chosen is because in our in-school program, nearly 100 percent of our kids showed growth,” said Vivian Cotterell, Save the Children Program Coordinator for the Whitley County School District.

“We are well recognized for the success that we have as a program. Mark Shriver took this opportunity to invite the governor down to view our program while they are in the process of budget making decisions.”
Moore and Shriver spent over two hours at the school observing Thursday morning.
Moore read a children’s book that she has written, “Freckle Face Strawberry,” and then participated in various literacy activities with the children.

“A school like this is a great example,” Moore said. “Their reading scores have gone through the roof. The community is so terrific here and so invested in these children’s futures. I think it is important for all of us around the country.

“To be what we want to be, we need to take care of everybody, especially people who don’t have many resources. This is where Save the Children comes in and really does that for our neediest littlest people.”
Beshear spent about an hour at the school where he got to participate in literacy activities with two groups of children and read them part of the book, “The Polar Express.”

Beshear and Moore then handed out backpacks with reading books to preschoolers that they took home for parents to read with them.

Cotterell said the children bring the books back the following week and get another bag of books.
“I am here to visit and learn more about the Save the Children here in Whitley County and in some of the schools,” Beshear said Thursday morning. “It is such a fabulous program to teach our kids how to read. At a very early age, it exposes them to reading and to learning.

“It is making a big difference with these children. It is bringing them up very fast to their grade level, then they can achieve along with everybody else.”

Beshear noted that the competitive world for adults starts way back when they are children.
“We have to make sure that our kids learn and learn at a pace where they can move ahead and be successful when they become adults,” he said.

Beshear said he was surprised by how excited the children were that are involved in the program.

“To see kids excited about learning and being excited about learning to read. They are excited about what words look like and to recognize words. It is thrilling for me to see that a program like Save the Children is helping develop our kids here in Kentucky to make them successful adults,” Beshear said.

Created in Kentucky

Save the Children was created in Kentucky 76 years ago, Shriver noted.
The organization currently has an office in Berea, and funds 33 after school programs that are primarily across southeastern Kentucky.

“There are 15 early childhood programs, which are really working with little kids and their parents in the homes before the age of five,” Shriver said. “What we saw today was the after school program.

“During the school day, we also have the foster grandparent program that Save the Children is running and is committed to working with kids on a one to one basis.”
Shriver said he was impressed by what he saw.

“What is going on in Whitley County is terrific,” he said. “The state of Kentucky was the first state that invested in Save the Children’s work. Kentucky’s a leader.

“We have used the Kentucky model of a public-private partnership all across the country. We have such partnerships in New Mexico, South Carolina, Arkansas and a number of other states.”

Three local schools

Cotterell said Save the Children is now in three schools in Whitley County, including Whitley Central Primary, Whitley Central Intermediate and Pleasant View Elementary School.
Cotterell said Save the Children provides in-school literacy support for several children who fall “between the cracks.”

“They might be on the verge of making independent readers, but they don’t qualify, or there are students that need help more from Title I,” Cotterell said. “They are kind of left struggling with just the help of the teacher.”

She said Save the Children tutors can add additional support for teachers by pulling children out to work with them in groups of four or five or one on one.

In addition, Save the Children also offers an after school program that works with children on academic work in addition to things such as healthy eating habits and physical activity.
Save the Children also offers a preschool program for children, and helps purchase books. At Whitley Central Primary alone this year, Save the Children funds have been used to purchase over $10,000 worth of books, Cotterell said.

“Save the Children has been a great value to us in the Whitley County school system especially during times of reduced funding,” said Whitley County Superintendent Lonnie Anderson.
“We certainly appreciate the partnership that we have with Save the Children. We feel as does Save the Children that education is one of the keys for escaping poverty.”

Moore involvement

Moore said she started working with Save the Children about one year ago, and that her first visit was on Dec. 11 in Tennessee.

She said her involvement started after working with producer-director V.J. Roth, who invited her to the 75th anniversary of Save the Children.

“I was very impressed with them,” Moore said. “What they do in terms of targeting and solving the issue of U.S. poverty, I think, is extraordinary.”

“Education can change a child’s life,” she noted. “The thing about the United States is this is a country where anything is possible. You can come from anywhere and be anything, but you can only do that if you have an education.”

Moore created the Save the Children Valentine’s Day Campaign, which aims to give families a way to make a difference for children in need in the United States.

“We’re a country where every child should have an equal opportunity yet one in six children live in poverty,” said Moore. “The only way to give these children opportunity is through education and Save the Children is helping us reach that goal. The phenomenal 90 percent success rate at the Whitley program sets a powerful example for our leaders in Washington, D.C.”