At a Title 1 school in rural South Carolina, a bus pulls up to the front door.
Out of the bus walk a few University of South Carolina students. The purpose of the visit today is to surprise students in 4K through 2nd grade with some group reading and USC’s mascot, Cocky.
The program is called Cocky’s Reading Express. It’s a literacy program in which USC students read to the children, and Cocky helps the children understand the importance of life-long reading.
The program serves students in 4K through second grade because “research shows that if children acquire strong reading skills and a love of reading by the end of second grade, they are more likely to succeed academically and graduate on time.”
The mission of the group is to reach those elementary students in underserved public schools with this message.
