Gov. Nathan Deal announced grant awards to 48 projects as part of the Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program, a collaborative effort between the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College.
 
“The Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program recognizes those leading the way in developing new, engaging programs to advance language and literacy skills for Georgia students,” said Deal. “These grants will provide communities with additional resources to put more students on track to read on grade-level by the third grade. The bright minds of Georgia’s students are the state’s most precious resource and I commend the educators and community partners working to prepare them for future success.”
 
The Early Language and Literacy Mini-Grant Program invests in strategic community partnerships that target language and literacy development needs for children from birth to age eight. Each awarded project is a collaborative effort between at least two community-based partners that focuses on one of the four pillars of theGet Georgia Reading Campaign: language nutrition, access, positive learning climate, and teacher preparation and effectiveness. These community partnerships include child care centers, public and private pre-K programs, primary grades of elementary schools, local service agencies and local nonprofit organizations.
 
Individual partners within an approved grant project will receive between $5,000 and $20,000 to support their roles in the partnership.