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Forney Fire Department and ISD run 'Get Fired Up for Reading' program to boost literacy
Summary
Fire Chief Holcomb presented the department’s Get Fired Up for Reading program, an eight-week partnership with Forney ISD that brings firefighters into classrooms, offers reading-minute competitions for K–12 students and rewards winners with prizes and a grand-prize fire-truck ride.
Fire Chief Holcomb told the Forney City Council on April 8 about the Forney Fire Department’s Get Fired Up for Reading partnership with Forney ISD, an eight-week program designed to encourage students from prekindergarten through 12th grade to read and to build relationships between children and public safety personnel.
Chief Holcomb described the program as bringing firefighters into classrooms to read to students, host competitions by grade level for reading minutes and recognize grade-level winners. The grand-prize winner receives a ride to school in a fire truck, is cheered by classmates and eats lunch with the crew, the chief said. “When one of our fire marshals or chief shows up in uniform with a picture book in hand, kids light up,” Holcomb told the council.
Holcomb listed partners who support the program, including Forney ISD; local Walmart staff (Lexi) who donate bicycles; Adventist Energy, which contributed gift cards; the Forney Education Foundation; and local businesses that provide certificates for prize levels. The chief said the department plans to add an art poster contest next year to select a program poster for display across campuses.
Holcomb said teachers have reported academic improvements for some students during the eight-week competition. He said the department set an initial goal of four million reading minutes for the program and reported that the goal was exceeded, though the exact total as presented in the meeting record was not clearly audibly rendered in the transcript and should be confirmed with program records.
Why this matters: The program combines literacy promotion and community engagement and is an example of a local public-safety agency partnering with schools to support education and trust.
Next steps: The department will present student winners to the council and add the poster contest for the next school year; program partners will continue to supply prizes and event support.
