The College of Charleston reached nearly 10,000 members of the Charleston community with this year’s The College Reads! book selection, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time, co-authored by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The #1 New York Times bestselling author spoke to an audience of more than 5,000 at the Carolina First Arena on Thursday, November 11.
In conjunction with the College Reads!, the Literacy Outreach Initiative (LOI) engaged nearly 300 college students in literacy-focused outreach. College of Charleston students, in partnership with Charleston County School District (CCSD) teachers, introduced Three Cups of Tea to elementary, middle, and high school students through a unique curriculum developed by Margaret Hagood and Nicola Williams of CofC’s Teacher Education department. The curriculum was created to imbue children with a joy of reading and inspire them to become involved with their community. Generous donations by community members, led through the efforts of Sean Moore and Greg Pressley, made it possible for the LOI to purchase and provide copies of Listen to the Wind, the picture book version of Three Cups of Tea, to elementary school children and the young reader edition of Three Cups of Tea to middle and high school students. In all 4,200 Charleston County students received a book of their own and engaged in a lively exchange of ideas with College of Charleston students over seven weeks. Five hundred of these CCSD students were in attendance at Thursday’s lecture by Greg Mortenson, with 50 children chosen for a special meeting with him prior to the event.
College of Charleston and Charleston County students also participated in the Pennies for Peace campaign, Mortenson’s program to raise money to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. To date, over $5,000 has been collected. School children attending Thursday’s lecture presented their pennies to Mortenson in person. The Pennies for Peace campaign will continue throughout December.
The College Reads! is the College of Charleston’s common reading program, which started at the College in 2002 but was initially designed for first year students only. In 2009, the College expanded the program to include the entire campus. Each year, The College Reads! connects thousands of students, faculty, and staff around a single book to promote the idea that liberally educated people read broadly and discuss with one another ideas arising from the books they share.
Mortenson is co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea and author of the new bestseller, Stones Into Schools. He founded the Pennies For Peace philanthropy, and is co-founder of the nonprofit Central Asia Institute. In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) for his dedicated and humanitarian efforts to promote education and literacy in rural areas for 15 years. As of 2010, Mortenson has established or significantly supported 145 schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. These schools provide education to more than 64,000 children, primarily girls, where few education opportunities existed before.
More information about Three Cups of Tea.
More information about the Literacy Outreach Initiative.
