In this edition of Giving 101, I want to talk about the two most impacting gifts I ever received. The first one came from my parents when I was in 4thgrade, it was a small collection of hardbound children’s books that introduced me to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and the North American Indians. They ignited my passion for reading and learning. My father, the Colonel, was all about incentives, so he would “loan” each book to me and if I read it and submitted a book report to him, it became mine. Those books sit on a shelf in my office to this day and when I see them, I am always reminded of falling in love for the first time.
The second gift came from my friend, Lt. Clebe McClary, who I first heard speak at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Camp in Black Mountain, NC in 1975. Clebe’s faith & love for his family and our nation instantly resonated with me. That day I waited until all the other campers had left, I walked up to Clebe, offered my hand, and told him I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. He had overcome catastrophic wounds from a recon mission gone bad in Vietnam and became a speaker who would touch lives all over our country and the world. His gift was a challenge he extended to all of us that day; he told us that leaders are life-long learners and shared how he read a book a week. I made the same commitment that day and it transformed my life.
My parents and Clebe opened a door for me to an entire universe of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration that changed my life forever. You see, as a youngster I had struggled learning to read and I can still remember being terrified of spelling bees and reading out loud in class. The difference between me and the 50% of our children in America today who are not reading at grade level is I had parents who never give up on me and a friend in Clebe who inspired me.
Last February I wrote about the High Point Community Foundation’s Literacy Initiative that was partnering with GCS to bring High Dosage Tutoring into our local H.P. Elementary schools for the next two years. Since then, we have raised over $400,000 toward an $800,000 goal so the first year is paid for and the tutoring will begin with 1st graders in the fall. If we really want to eliminate illiteracy in High Point, we will need to have High Dosage Tutoring in every elementary school because it works! Every negative issue our schools face will be positively impacted; we will have fewer dropouts, reduced disciplinary issues, higher test scores, better post-secondary, and career outcomes, and eventually a city full of literate, self-sufficient taxpayers.
To those who say programs like this are too expensive I would ask, how do you calculate the cost of our local students being denied the chance to succeed? I would also ask them to consider the multi-millions of dollars we lose every year to poverty, hunger, welfare, crime, and incarceration. I learned long ago you can discern someone’s priorities by how they spend their time and money. It is time for High Point to realign our priorities and eliminate illiteracy by 3rd grade, the ripple effect will change lives and our future. For Good, For High Point, Forever.
