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Run Milton Run!
There was excitement in Macon County in 2000. Fueled by the enthusiasm of local literacy providers, Milton Hudson, Coordinator of the Literacy Council of Macon County completed a 140-mile run during the week of September 3-9, 2000.
After a successful Run for Literacy last September, Milton pledged that he would run from Oglethorpe County to Atlanta to highlight Literacy Week 2000. During the first Run for Literacy, Milton and four other runners began at the South Georgia Tech campus and finished 25 miles away at the Oglethorpe office of the Literacy Council. Community support for the run was heartening, bringing needed attention to adult literacy services in the area.
This project resulted in a collaborative effort including 7 CLCPs (Macon, Crisp/Dooly, Schley, Sumter, Upson, Taylor and Spalding), 6 SDAs (SDA 10, 13, 15, 27, 28 and 29), 4 technical colleges (South Georgia, Flint River, Griffin and DeKalb), 2 school systems (Clayton and Atlanta) and the Georgia Council on Adult Literacy.
Celebration locations included: Oglethorpe, Butler, Thomaston, Zebulon, Griffin, Jonesboro, College Park and Atlanta. Milton was cheerfully welcomed at his final destination – The Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education in Atlanta.
The original idea for the run came about during an adult literacy classroom discussion in Macon County. “A student was reading a passage about Terry Fox, who ran across Canada to raise consciousness about cancer,” Milton said. “After the conversation, a light just went on in my head. I hope by this campaign we can raise public awareness of adult literacy,” he said.
The goal of the Run for Literacy was to bring awareness to communities about the problems associated with low literacy levels. “Improved literacy increases confidence, and as a result, the workforce becomes stronger and more educated,” said Jan Hobgood, Director of Adult Literacy at South Georgia Technical College.
Other adult literacy directors, such as Elaine Cookie Keene (Clayton County Schools), Regina Morton (Flint River Technical College) Larry Dunn (Griffin Technical College), Jacquelyn Davenport (Atlanta Public Schools) and Jan Craig (DeKalb Technical College) assisted with the organization of the Run for Literacy.
Milton is proud of his accomplishments and hopes to draw more attention to adult literacy services in Georgia, particularly as it pertains to the CLCP. Macon County is in the seventh year of participation with CLCP, and anticipates becoming a fully Certified Literate Community by the time the ten year goal arrives. Like Milton Hudson, literacy in Macon County is on the right track.
Sally McIntosh |
The 140-mile event from Oglethorpe to Atlanta was designed to focus attention on adult literacy not only during Literacy Week but also for the tenth anniversary of CLCP. The week-long run included 8 stops where communities held local celebrations to commemorate literacy.
