Summer reading camps are popular, getting results – and in peril
Teacher Dorian Lloyd helps rising first-grader Nykari McNeal sound out words during a state-funded reading camp at Cornerstone Prep, a charter school in Memphis. It's unclear if the state will continue to fund the popular statewide program next summer. (Kathryn Palmer/Chalkbeat)
Kathryn Palmer
Kathryn Palmer is a graduate student at University of Missouri. Before becoming a journalist, she taught U.S. history at Tallahassee Comunity College. She is former historian for the State Archives of Florida.
Marta W. Aldrich
Marta W. Aldrich is the senior statehouse correspondent at Chalkbeat Tennessee. A newswoman for The Associated Press for most of her career, Marta has covered state government, politics, business, education and other Tennessee news. She has served as news editor of United Methodist News Service and features editor of American Profile magazine. Marta is a graduate of Memphis City Schools and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Read to be Ready camps first opened in 2016, and Tennessee has expanded the program annually with funding from the U.S. Department of Human Services. But state officials learned in January that the federal grant now has to be used for child care programs.
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