25-12-Annual Report 2025_FINAL no bleed pages-1 - Flipbook - Page 8
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
TIGERS READ!
The idea for Tigers Read! originated 10 years ago with
outreach work conducted by C.C. Bates and the Early Literacy
Center. The event serves as both a reward for students who
have improved reading skills and a method to fight “summer
slide,” which is the learning loss that occurs when students do
not engage in reading during summer break.
The event has become a staple event for its main sponsors,
Dabo’s All In Team Foundation, Scholastic and the College of
Education. In the years since it started, it has proven to be a
powerful complement to the partnerships between College
faculty, school districts and the daily work of educators and
students in schools across the state.
The event has allowed the College of Education and its
sponsors to distribute nearly 100,000 books to firstgrade students in 25 districts across the state. Bates has
also incorporated a research component by recruiting a
longitudinal sample of first graders who began receiving
books in 2017 to research further the effects of reading
outreach over time.
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