FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GWINNETT COUNTY, GA. – As Preface continues another summer of expansion in its fight for Equality Through Education and Early Childhood Literacy, its leadership team has officially closed the book on a successful season of impactful media features in the first half of 2021.
Over the last several months, Preface leadership took to the airwaves across the country to spread the word about its award-winning, cutting-edge, and absolutely free literacy models that have helped mitigate learning loss and supercharge literacy during the school day alongside hardworking educators.
In response to the media blitz, Chief Marketing Officer Devon Naftzger commented, “It’s incredibly rewarding to see the hard work of our Ambassadors, students, and the entire Preface team be acknowledged as we continue to make an impact on early childhood literacy nationwide.”
Among these media features are an interview with Preface’s Founder & Executive Director, Jonathan “JT” Wu, on Gwinnett Business RadioX, a feature in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting Preface’s Georgia-grown literacy models, and lengthy articles in local papers, like the Edgefield Advertiser and the News-Reporter of Washington, GA. Every feature highlights the unique customization of the Preface model to a particular community, and helps give audiences a localized introduction to the mission, results, and history of Preface.
In March, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spotlighted Preface’s Georgia-grown roots and impacts – highlighting its start at Berkmar High School in the fall of 2019. Journalist H.M. Cauley spoke with both Wu and Berkmar’s assistant principal and Preface Liaison, Cindy Moffett - a key point of contact between Preface and her Berkmar Ambassadors.
Especially given the diversity of the Berkmar High School community, Moffett noted that “Berkmar’s Preface Ambassadors are particularly adept at working with others from diverse backgrounds since the Lilburn school’s student body represents more than 80 countries.”
Cauley continues by highlighting that Wu grew up in Gwinnett County, Georgia – where English is not the first language for many students. The article included a snippet from Wu. “That diversity presents a unique set of challenges,” said Wu. “When I learned that 57% of our kids were struggling with literacy, I was inspired to make an impact.”
Across metro Atlanta, Gwinnett Business RadioX highlighted Wu and the entire Preface organization in an interview conducted by local host Mike Sammond. The insightful discussion around Preface explored Wu’s own roots in Gwinnett County, GA, the unique peer-to-peer impact of Preface’s high school Ambassadors, and the importance of education in an ever-diversifying country.
Gwinnett County, referred to by Sammond as the new “melting pot of the world,” is in many ways the perfect community to begin tackling the new challenges of an increasingly interconnected world. During the conversation, Wu emphasized how multiculturalism and multilingualism in Gwinnett County, and Georgia, can be a model to other communities to embrace homegrown assets to be more competitive on a global scale - with education as a foundational pillar for that success.
Not too far from Gwinnett County, The News-Reporter of Washington, Georgia featured Preface later in the spring. Author Jane Aaron highlighted the celebration of the new partnership between the City of Washington and Preface by donating 150 books to the Four “E” youth center. By focusing an in-person tutoring effort with a local community center in a more rural area of Georgia, Preface can meet kids where they are– leading to more kids getting the literacy boost they need.
A bit further to the east, one of South Carolina’s oldest newspapers, The Edgefield Advertiser, profiled Wu and Preface - specifically highlighting Preface’s upcoming partnerships with schools in nearby Aiken County. In a powerful overview, Arthur Northrop highlighted the work and history of Preface thus far - and cast an eye to the future. “Wu and his foundation are about to begin working in the Edgefield County area,” said The Advertiser, highlighting a Preface partnership set to launch in the area next fall.
This past season of positive media features is building on prior media recognition in 2020, including interviews on Fox and ABC Charleston, an interview with NPR in Tennessee, and a profile in the GA Asian Times.
As summer expansion continues, and with a new school year on the horizon, Preface leadership looks forward to a new chapter of positive media features in the near future.
Links to the media coverage referenced above can be found here:
About Preface:
Founded in 2019, Preface is a public-private philanthropic initiative dedicated to fostering Equality Through Education and early childhood literacy - often with a multilingual twist! Partnering with educators and community leaders, Preface empowers local high schoolers to give back to their communities and bridge opportunity gaps by fostering literacy among young students of all backgrounds. A federally recognized 501(c)(3) organization, Preface is proudly headquartered in Gwinnett County, Georgia and serves communities across America. Learn more at www.PrefaceProject.org.
For further inquiries, contact:
Devon Naftzger
Chief Marketing Officer
Preface Public Relations
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