Recipients of the first Literacy Awards were honored recently by the Troup County Certified Literate Community Program.

Presenting the awards, CLCP Chairman Andy Fritchley, said, “For more than 10 years, Troup County CLCP has worked to eliminate illiteracy. We have enjoyed countless success stories but none of them would have been possible without the many companies and individuals who have contributed their time and talents to be part of the Literacy Solution in Troup County. These honorees have proven their commitment to literacy through their extraordinary efforts and Troup CLCP is proud to recognize each of them with our inaugural Literacy Award.”

Here are profiles of the recipients:

n Polly Pitts serves as English language arts and writing academic coach for Troup County school system students in grades six through 12. She has been involved in implementing “Writing to Win,” which weaves writing exercises into every subject, allowing students to write to learn, rather than just learning to write. Pitts also coordinated the development of the Troup County research and writing manual for all language arts classes. She was honored as a literacy professional who promotes literacy awareness as part of their paid position.

n Angeline Brooks, a social worker at Twin Fountains Nursing Home, helped to develop the concept for a nursing-home-based GED program, offering classes to those residents who never had the opportunity to learn to read. The program was launched in 2009 and is the only type of its kind in Georgia. Brooks was honored as an individual not affiliated or paid on behalf of a literacy organization.

n Walmart Distribution Center has supported the literacy program by providing volunteers and financial resources for the Troup CLCP dictionary project. This initiative, entering its ninth year, provides dictionaries for third-graders in every school in Troup County. Not only does Walmart provide funding for the books, there are several Walmart employees who participate annually in the distribution of the dictionaries. The center was honored in the business, institution or organization category.

n The Harrell family of LaGrange received a special family award for an annual birthday project. John and Diane Harrell and daughter Chloe were recognized for their donation of books collected at Chloe’s birthday party. All guests are asked for a book, not for Chloe to keep, but to be donated to children who otherwise would not have books of their own.

Debbie Burdette, Troup CLCP executive director, congratulated the winners.

“Not only are each of our recipients winners, our entire community is a winner because of their contributions to the Literacy Solution in Troup County,” she said. “I am grateful for their efforts and look forward to their continued participation as we work to eliminate illiteracy in our community.”

Troup County CLCP is a collaborative between local business, education, government and community. To accomplish its goal of a certified literate community, the CLCP encourages a love of reading as a foundation for lifelong learning and supports those programs with similar goals. CLCP promotes literacy awareness and programs to assist students in need of basic literacy education.