Literacy Mid-South awarded $4.5 million grant to help with pandemic learning loss

By Bria Bolden

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A big opportunity to impact thousands of Shelby County elementary students is on its way this upcoming school year.

Sam O’Bryant Executive Director of non-profit Literacy Mid-South said they were one of five organizations in Tennessee awarded the Tennessee All Corps grant from the Tennessee Department of Education.

“It’s the largest grant that we’ve ever received in the history of the organization,” said O’Bryant.

He believes it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We understand that COVID has presented learning loss with a lot of our earlier grades specifically first through third,” said O’Bryant. “This grant allows us the chance to interact with first through third graders in specific schools to help them reach their greatest potential so they can mitigate this learning loss that we’ve experienced.”

O’Bryant says using the money, they’ll tutor 3,000 students for the next two school years.

Students can expect 12 weeks of in-school tutoring each semester at elementary schools, most of them in the Raleigh area.

"What we’ve found that if we kind of center our focus on a specific geographic space, we can move the needle for those students in that space there by finding ways to include the community along the way,” said O’Bryant.

School leaders will work to identify students for programs at Egypt Elementary, Keystone Elementary, Scenic Hill Elementary, Brownsville Road Elementary, STAR Academy Charter School, Promise Academy Spring Hill, Journey Community School Coleman, and Perea Elementary.

O’Bryant said class sizes will be small, with one tutor per three students for a 45-minute in-school session.

Literacy Mid-South is looking to hire at least 100 tutors for this program.

If you’re interested, you can find a link to learn more information here.