Glennville 2021-22

Reading Matters

The Glennville Rotary Club partnered with Tattnall County Schools Family Connection and FERST Readers, Inc., to deliver age-appropriate reading material from birth up to five years of age. The Glennville Rotary Club worked with local businesses, schools, churches, and other organizations to sign up children. We have gradually increased the number of children that we register each year.

            The beneficiaries are the 100 children, the parents, and our schools and community. Our hopes are that children will enter school with better reading skills and are eager to learn. We work with the local schools, daycare facilities, churches, local businesses, and other community groups to sign up children in Tattnall County between the ages of birth up to five years old. Our project goals help children and their parents/guardians understand that reading early and well is the key to their child’s success in life. We encourage them that reading ignites a child’s creativity and imagination. In addition, we want them to understand that reading with a parent or caregiver helps a child mature in self-confidence, intelligence, and independence.

Rotarians are actively involved in our annual fundraisers that help support this project. All Rotarians are encouraged to assist in signing up children at their respective businesses and to volunteer at other events that promote this project. We also hold several programs each year that highlight this project and its success to date.

Tattnall County Schools Family Connection and Ferst Readers were the administrators for the project.

Tattnall County Dictionary Project

The Rotary Club of Glennville provided Student Dictionaries to all third grade students in the Tattnall County (Georgia) School System. The Student Dictionaries were obtained through a donation to The Dictionary Project. There are three elementary schools in Tattnall County – Glennville, Reidsville, and Collins. This is the twelfth year that Tattnall County Rotarians have provided dictionaries to third graders in Tattnall County. On October 22, 2021, Rotarians delivered dictionaries to the third grade students at the three elementary schools. The Rotarians at each school talked to the students about the importance of education and literacy.

            The primary beneficiaries were the 303 third-grade students who were personally handed a Student Dictionary. These students will benefit from the expanded vocabulary and work knowledge provided by the dictionaries, which will allow them to become better readers and writers, creative thinkers, and more effective communicators. Having students expand their vocabulary is essential in reading comprehension and overall knowledge of all subject matters. An expanded vocabulary will also help students enjoy and understand what they are reading and want to read more. Parents, teachers, schools and the local communities will receive indirect benefit from the improved reading ability and academic performance of the students. The Rotary Club of Glennville will also benefit due to the positive publicity and goodwill.

Twelve Rotarians from Glennville delivered the dictionaries and coloring/activity to the students. They also encouraged the students to expand their vocabularies and increase their reading interests. While handing out the dictionaries, the Rotarians played a fun game to show the students the longest word in the dictionary, which is 1909 letters long. They truly feel that this gift can help the students think and communicate more clearly and serve to increase their understanding of the world.

The Tattnall County Board of Education was involved in the project by allowing us to come into the schools and supporting our providing of the dictionaries.

Glennville 2020-21

GLENNVILLE ROTARY CLUB
Focused on Basic Education & Literacy

The Glennville Rotary Club was sponsored by the Savannah West Rotary Club and received its charter in November of 1984.  The Savannah West Club supported the early establishment of the Glennville Rotary Club for many years and helped the Club build a strong foundation.  The Club had strong and dedicated leaders that built upon that foundation like our late Charter President Jimmy Dubberly who helped shape and build our Club‘s culture and values that still exist today. We also had leaders like Past President and Charter Member Dr. Troy Rahn our Polio Plus Chair and only club member with perfect attendance and the late Past President and Charter Member Lee Woodcock who helped start our Annual Auction that has been held every year since 1987.  We continue to have strong leadership, wonderful fellowship, good Club growth and the desire to do good in our local community and the world.  We have demonstrated this by leading the District in per capita giving to the Rotary Foundation for the last four years and using our local share funds to support our Basic Education and Literacy focus.

Early on our leadership and club members wanted to focus on the area of Basic Education and Literacy.  With that in mind what follows is the story of how the Glennville Rotary Club has helped to make a difference in Basic Education and Literacy in our Community and around the World.  As I mentioned earlier, we started an Annual Rotary Club Dinner Auction in 1987 to raise funds to provide scholarships to area high school seniors. Every year since, 33 years now this Annual Fundraiser has been held in our community.  Rotary Club members, Businesses and individuals support and participate by donating funds and items for the dinner auction as well as attending and bidding on the live and silent auction items.  We involve many of our local youth to help assist with this event as well.  Over the years we have provided over $250,000 in scholarships to over 200 students at Pinewood Christian Academy and Tattnall County High School.

The proceeds from our Scholarship Dinner Auction funds $8000 in scholarships each year.  We provide a $2000 Jimmy Dubberly Memorial Scholarship and a $2000 Lee Woodcock Memorial Scholarship along with four (4) $1000 scholarships.  Beginning next year with the disbanding of the Reidsville Rotary Club we will pick up their $2000 Jack Hill Memorial Scholarship.  This will bring the total scholarships supported by the Glennville Rotary Club each year to $10,000.  Past Presidents Darla Kicklighter and Tiffany K Sittle continue to co-chair our annual Dinner Auction.

The Glennville Rotary Club sponsors two Interact Clubs.  Along with the Claxton Rotary Club we Co-Sponsor the Pinewood Christian Academy Interact Club and we also sponsor the Interact Club of the Battle Creek Warriors at Tattnall County High School.  These students attend Rotary Club meetings from time to time and provide a variety of programs during the year.  We involved them in our projects during the year like the Auction mentioned above, our Christmas projects and fund raisers for Polio Plus.

One of the programs that our members look forward to each year is PDG Preston Johnston High School Speech Contest.  The Glennville Club has conducted the Annual Speech Contest every year since its inception in 1997.  We work with Pinewood Christian Academy and Tattnall County High School to conduct their own speech contest and send their top three contestants to the Glennville Club for the Annual District 6920 High School Speech Competition.  The Glennville Club Awards prizes ranging from $200 to the winner, $150 for second and $100 for third.  All participants get $50.  We send our top two contestants to the Zone competition each year.  In 2014 Kathleen Shuman won the Eastern Zone competition and received the $1000 scholarship after giving her speech at the District Conference on Jekyll Island.  Over the years hundreds of students have given their speech at the Glennville Rotary Club and many have gone on to the Eastern Zone Competition.  Many of these students were Interactors in High School and we even have a few that are now Rotarians.

We also have a “Dictionary Project“ that we started in 2011 under Past President Dennis Strickland.  Over the past few years we partnered with the Reidsville Rotary Club to distribute these dictionaries to all third grade students in Tattnall County.  With the termination of the Reidsville Rotary Club the Glennville Club will continue this project in 2020/2021.  This is also a DDG grant project for the Glennville Club.  This project is currently Co-Chaired by past Presidents Dennis Strickland and Pam Waters.

In 2014, we begin partnering with The Augusta partnership for Literacy through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to distribute age appropriate books to children in Tattnall County between the ages of birth up to five years old.  Members participate by helping to sign up children each year and a book a month is mailed to the applicant‘s home.  Jay Martin, our Grants Chair also chairs this project “Reading Matters“ and this is one of the annual District Designated Grant Projects that we apply for each year. 

Several years ago under the leadership of then President Pam Waters the Club started a reading project at the local elementary school.  Club members would sign up and once a week the member could read a book of their choice or a book provided by the teacher to the elementary class.  We are not exactly sure what that will look like this year, but we hope to continue that well into the future.

The Glennville Club supports the Star Student / Star Teacher from Tattnall County High School each year.  We pay for their trip to the District event and have them present a special program to our Rotary Club where we honor them for their hard work and dedication. 

The Glennville Rotary Club has sponsored around 100 students over the years to attend RYLA on the South Georgia College Campus.  These students always return to present a program on “What they learned and how RYLA has influenced their Life“.

On the International side of things we have supported basic education and literacy over the years through our early participation in the GRSP back in the late 80‘s and early 90‘s.  We have also been a sponsoring club for several International Grants that support Basic Education and Literacy

Finally, the Glennville Club has also been very supportive of the STEM Project at South Tattnall Middle School for the last few years.  We also participate in a variety of other school and student lead initiatives in our community, like supporting and sponsoring students or clubs to attend leadership training or other competition at the state or national level. 

In short, I would say that due to the solid foundation built by our early leaders and the continued dedication of our Club‘s membership the Glennville Rotary Club has helped to “Open the Doors of Opportunity“ for many children and youth throughout Tattnall County when it comes to Basic Education and Literacy.  

Glennville 2019-20

FROM GLENNVILLE CLUB – – Don Fountain Makes NEWS!!!

Don reads to local elementary students as part of a team of Glennville Rotarians volunteering to read to a
class in either pre–K or Kindergarten.
The team members read every other Friday for 30 minutes.