SCCPSS President Roger Moss Gifts Books to Students; Pushes for "Literacy Nutrition"
Friday, February 6th, 2026
Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Board President Roger Moss joined hundreds of community volunteers Friday for United Way of the Coastal Empire’s (UWCE) annual Read United Day, an event focused on encouraging early literacy and promoting the benefits of shared reading.
The event brought over 1,000 volunteers into classrooms to read with students and help students build daily reading habits. During his visit to Formey Early Learning Center, in addition to distributing UWCE’s Read United Day Shared Reading Calendar, President Moss personally gifted a book to every student in the classroom for them to take home and keep—a gesture designed to bridge the gap between classroom instruction and home life.
“I brought a book for every student here to take home and keep to emphasize that reading at home is just as important as reading in school,” said Moss. “We need to engage our parents more to stress that for our kids to achieve their full potential, they need to be reading every night.”
Moss has made literacy a consistent focus of his work on the school board, emphasizing that strong reading skills are foundational to long-term academic and life outcomes. “When a child can read on grade level, we dramatically increase their chances of graduating on time and opening doors to future opportunity,” Moss said. “Literacy is one of the strongest predictors of success, and it deserves sustained attention from schools, families, and the broader community.”
Under the Read United initiative, volunteers reach over 20,000 students in Pre-K through second grade across the region. Moss noted that community-based efforts like Read United Day complement classroom instruction by helping students build daily reading habits.
“United Way of the Coastal Empire plays an important role in supporting our students,” Moss added. “Their efforts help us provide the ‘literacy nutrition’ our students need. Reading every night is one of the most powerful tools we have to boost achievement in every subject—math, science, and social studies all start with strong reading skills.”
As Board President, Moss reaffirmed that literacy remains his "North Star," guiding budget decisions and classroom resources to ensure no child is left behind in the journey from learning to read to reading to learn.
