Boys & Girls Club Celebrates Strong Results from Ford Sponsored Reading Success Academy

Covington, Tennessee — The Boys & Girls Club of the Hatchie River Region in Covington is proud to share encouraging early outcomes from its Reading Success Academy, a strategic literacy program launched in August 2025, in partnership with Ford Motor Company and Tipton County Public Schools. Designed to strengthen foundational reading skills and accelerate academic growth, the program is already making a measurable impact on students across grades K–8.

Led by veteran educators Kelli Cousar and Sarah Dunavant, each with more than 20 years of teaching experience, the Reading Success Academy provides targeted small-group and one-on-one instruction tailored to student needs.

Cousar and Dunavant use the nationally recognized assessment tool Aimsweb Plus, which measures student reading ability against national benchmarks. The Academy has produced incredible progress for the first half of the school year, August through December 2025.

K–2 Students

40% of kindergarten students improved in Letter Name Fluency
20% of 1st grade students showed growth in Word Reading Fluency
23% of 2nd grade students improved in Oral Reading Fluency

Grades 3–8

Students achieving at or above the 50th percentile increased from 28% to 30%
55% showed measurable growth in Oral Reading Fluency

High Priority Students K-8 (Students reading 2 + years behind grade level)

52% of students identified as needing additional support demonstrated improvement on their overall Reading Composite Score

Boys & Girls Club CEO Ed Doyle said, “What makes these results even more remarkable is that our Club Kids achieved this success in such a short period of time. This data only shows about four months of instruction, because Kelli and Sarah devoted quite a bit of time to their initial and follow-up assessments. They have made a tremendous impact on our kids, and we can’t wait to see our kid’s results at the end of the school year!”

Doyle continued, “Covington students have had a difficult educational journey. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many were displaced into temporary facilities for nearly three years when the EF3 tornado destroyed Crestview Elementary and Crestview Middle School (now Covington Elementary and Covington Middle).”

The Boys & Girls Club Reading Success Academy originally focused on grades 3–5, but then expanded to include middle school students, broadening its reach and deepening its impact. Cousar and Dunavant now serve approximately 110 Club members—50 K–2 students weekly and around 60 students daily in grades 3–8. Instruction is tailored to address critical literacy components:

Early learners focus on phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and fluency
Older students build skills in multi-syllabic decoding, vocabulary development, and comprehension strategies

Doyle added, “These results reflect the power of collaboration between education, community, and corporate partners. There is no way we could do this without Ford Motor Company and Tipton County Schools. Their help and support allows us to ensure that more students are not only reading but reading at or above grade level and beyond. Reading is the key to education. It fosters creativity, critical thinking, and imagination—taking young minds to places they might not otherwise go.”

The Boys & Girls Club of the Hatchie River Region is committed to transforming the lives of young people, empowering them to reach their full potential through academic support, mentorship, and life-enriching programs that strengthen the entire community.

View the Current Data Here

Media Contact:
Ed Doyle, CEO
Boys & Girls Club of the Hatchie River Region
Cell: (901) 800-6186
Email: [email protected]