Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Now that warmer weather has arrived, Literacy on the Lawn has returned to local elementary schools. 

The program is run by Communities in Schools and provides a fun event to get kids interested in reading and encourage parents to read to their children.

Communities in Schools Director Tabitha Lewis-Coverson said they host the events once a year at the local elementary schools they serve to provide a fun evening encouraging youth literacy and family engagement.

This year, they will do it at seven different elementary schools, she said.

“Parents are invited out to bring their kids and read to them,” Coverson said. “They don’t necessarily have to go to that particular school, but we just advertise it for that location. Anybody is welcome.”

“We get people from the community, the mayor, councilmen, local pastors and civic club members to volunteer to be readers, and also some school personnel volunteer to be readers. They pick a book that they want to bring and they read it to the kids while they’re sitting out on the lawn,” Coverson said. 

At the most recent Literacy on the Lawn at Franklin Forest Elementary, LaGrange Councilwoman Darby Pippin, United Way of West Georgia President Sharon Alford and Pastor Michael Jackson, among others, read to the kids.

Attendees are encouraged to bring beach towels, blankets or lawn chairs to set up reading stations and be more comfortable on the lawn.

The event is free, but there are also vendors and food trucks offering snacks for sale. The Jungle Bus is also there to provide books to kids.

Coverson said they also have door prizes for the kids and their parents. Kids are randomly selected to get a gift basket with fun items and a book to take home. Parents are also encouraged to come for the chance to win a gift card.

“It’s just fun, but the focuses are literacy and reading and having parents read to their kids and making sure the kids have books to read,” Coverson said.

The events are held in the evening, starting at 5:30 p.m. to allow parents time to get home from work with no set end time.

The next Literacy on the Lawn is set for Thursday, April 17, at Callaway Elementary School.